"The American" grossed a total of US$67,876,281 worldwide—US$35,606,376 in North America and US$32,269,905 in other territories. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating 65% based on 214 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's critical consensus states: "As beautifully shot as it is emotionally restrained, "The American" is an unusually divisive spy thriller—and one that rests on an unusually subdued performance from George Clooney." On Metacritic the film has an average score of 61 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "D–" on an A+ to F scale. This was attributed to disappointment after the film was marketed as being action-packed instead of focusing on suspense and drama. "Rolling Stone"'s Peter Travers gave the film two-and-a-half stars, writing that director Anton Corbijn "holds his film to a steady, often glacial pace", and that the result is of "startling austerity". Roger Ebert gave the film four stars, writing, "Here is a gripping film with the focus of a Japanese drama, an impenetrable character to equal Alain Delon's in "Le Samouraï", by Jean-Pierre Melville." Leonard Maltin called it a "slowly paced, European-style mood piece, short on dialogue and action and long on atmosphere". The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 28, 2010.