AMERICAN STAR - Mark Reviews Movies

American Star, IFC Films

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Review by Mark Dujsik | January 25, 2024

A professional killer gets an unexpected vacation in American Star, which lets Ian McShane meander around an island with his trademarked sense of gravitas. Is that enough for a movie? Director Gonzalo López-Gallego and screenwriter Nacho Faerna certainly put the notion to the test, and all things considered, there are definitely less compelling story ideas out there than watching a great actor play a guy who's questioning his life because there's nothing better to do.

McShane plays the enigmatic Wilson, although there's not really much of a mystery to the man. He's a London-based assassin for a shadowy "security" firm, sent to the island of Fuerteventura, which is part of Spain and off the coast of Africa, to kill a high-profile drug dealer. Everything seems to go according to plan, as Wilson lands on the island, gets his rental car, drives out to the desert, gathers all of the intelligence—a photo of his target and a map to the man's remote home—and equipment—a pistol—he'll need for the job, and heads out to the dealer's estate.

Instead of finding the man after hiding in wait for a bit, though, Wilson watches as a woman shows up at the house, talks on the phone, and undresses into a swimsuit for a swim in the pool. With no one to kill, Wilson sneaks out, notes the woman's motorcycle, and makes a call of his own. The target is away on some business deal, so while he waits for the "package" to arrive, he has some time to relax.

If the setup is simple, the plot is even simpler, perhaps. There are no action scenes to be found here (or, at least, there aren't until, well, Wilson has a reason to go into action, which should come whenever the target appears, in theory), because Wilson has no reason to fight or kill anyone. He has nothing to do, either in terms of his work or his personal life, since the former is currently on hold at the moment and the latter is basically non-existent on account of his job.

What does a hitman on holiday do? Well, he grabs a room at a local resort, spends time at the hotel bar drinking and listening to live performers, goes out looking for a spot with a bit more flavor and some music he might appreciate more, and maybe try to find out what sights he can see in a place such as this. One of the people he meets in his wanderings refers to as an island filled with only two types of people: tourists and those who are trying to escape something.

That person, by the way, is the woman he observed at the drug dealer's house. Her name's Gloria (Nora Arnezeder), and she tends bar at the local blues club someone points him to on his first night on the island. He recognizes her from the motorcycle parked outside and some of her tattoos, but she thinks he's just another tourist, who happens to be interested in a photo of a ship—the name from which the movie gets its title—on the wall behind the bar.

It was supposed to be a cruise liner, but then, World War II broke out, putting it into military service. After many decades, it was meant to scrapped but ended up aground on the coast of Fuerteventura, where it's now just a rusty wreck, slowly but surely breaking apart, capsizing, and sinking.

In case it isn't clear, the ship is a metaphor for Wilson, who must have had some hope and promise—as we all do—in his younger days, found himself in the military and in combat during the Falklands War, and is now just on Fuerteventura with a whole history that doesn't seem to have amounted to much in the big picture. His old buddies are dead or no longer associated with him. He is divorced, has no children, and only has the strangers he might meet on a job—the ones he doesn't have to kill, that is—for temporary company. The only exception is Ryan (Adam Nagaitis), the son of a best friend who died in the Falklands and his current boss at the firm, who shows up at the behest of his bosses to make sure the plan stays on track.

The story becomes a series of encounters—Wilson spending time with Gloria, who sees something affectionately paternal in him, and a kid (played by Oscar Coleman) from the hotel, whose parents are regularly fighting or absent, and Ryan, who spots his "uncle" with the woman and eventually adds things together. The sole purpose, perhaps, is to see another side of Wilson—one that seems to have died so long ago with war and cynicism and making a life out of murder. This man could have been somebody, but now, he's just waiting for the inevitable capsizing of the little life he has left.

Yes, McShane's presence and nuanced performance carry the little American Star provides. The material is too shallow and bluntly obvious, though, for that to amount to much.

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