‘American Star’ Review: Armed and Vacationing
Ian McShane stars as an assassin killing time in the Canary Islands.“American Star,” the latest film to showcase the travel benefits of being a professional killer, opens with Wilson (Ian McShane) arriving in Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands. After parking his rental car off the side of a desert road, he peeks in the trunk to find a photograph of his latest mark, who of course lives in a sleek, modernist home nearby.But the mark isn’t there, which leaves Wilson consigned to killing only time. Keeping a low profile in a jet-black suit that matches the rental car and attracts the attention of nearly everyone — he befriends a kid (Oscar Coleman) who wants to know why he hasn’t brought swim trunks — Wilson hits it off with a bartender, Gloria (Nora Arnezeder). She appears to be the mysterious blonde who turned up while he was scoping out the (sleek, modernist) house.Citing local wisdom, Gloria says there are only three types of people in Fuerteventura — residents, tourists and those who are running from something. By that point, she has accompanied Wilson to the site of a wrecked ship that provides the movie’s central metaphor. Gloria’s mother (Fanny Ardant) says her daughter has always found that “heap of scrap metal” fascinating. The viewer is meant to conclude that Wilson, a psychologically scarred Falklands veteran, is her new favorite scrap.There is also a younger assassin (Adam Nagaitis), a son of Wilson’s war buddy. He says he is on the island to make sure the hit comes off — an ominous sign. But much of “American Star” is more engaging than a summary makes it sound. Despite an oddball taste for wide-angle lenses, the director, Gonzalo López-Gallego, can sustain a solid slow burn. Still, neither McShane nor the scenery can take the rust off the basic scenario.American StarRated R. Vacation or no, he’s still a hit man. Running time: 1 hour 47 minutes. In theaters and available to rent or buy on most major platforms. More
