‘American Star’: The Beautiful Face of Ian McShane

Movies about hitmen tend to go either of two ways: either they are about specialized killers with a moral code (see Jean Pierre Melville’s Le Samouraï, Jim Jarmusch’s Ghost Dog, or the recent David Fincher film, The Killer), or they are about conflicted killers who seek to run away from the past and seek some sort of salvation (see Anton Corbijn’s The American, Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges, or the John Wick franchise).

Wilson (Ian McShane), the protagonist of American Star seems to fit the former, but as the film progresses, he gets closer and closer to becoming the latter — though whether this transformation is complete by the end is something you’ll have to see.

An English assassin named Wilson travels to Fuerteventura to murder a man named Thomas (played by namesake Thomas Kretschmann, though his presence is completely negligible, as he barely has any lines and has nothing to do, so this felt like a good excuse for a paid vacation). When Wilson’s intel turns out to be faulty as the target hasn’t yet arrived at the expected destination, Willson decides to kill some time on the island.

While touring the island, Wilson wishes to visit the eponymous “American Star,” a shipwrecked boat by the island, dating back from a bygone era — just like him. Through the help of a local, Gloria (Norah Arnezeder), he visits the site and starts a friendship. But seeing that she’s connected to the target herself, this friendship might jeopardize the lonely lifestyle he’s built for himself.

This is director Gonzalo López-Gallego’s second collaboration with McShane, as they worked together with the noir-western, The Hollow Point. HP is a decent enough film, though fairly conventional genre fare.

American Star is a completely different film. I was pleasantly surprised with the rather pensive approach to the material. Unlike The Hollow Point, American Star moves far away from its genre roots. There’s no intricately choreographed gunplay. Even though Wilson is played by John Wick co-star Ian McShane, you won’t see him mow down herds of anonymous henchmen. The violence that is shown is brief, to the point, and almost uncinematic. There’s no sense of romanticism to the act of killing. It’s a brutal act and portrayed as such. Rather than its thematic contemporaries, it seems far more inspired by the gentle works of Wim Wenders.

As with Wenders, the film’s strength lies in its minimalism. The dialogue is sparse. There are no grand monologues. In conversation, people will refer to things without the need to give exposition to the audience. It’s never even explicitly stated that Wilson is a hitman but it’s never needed as we are given just enough visual cues: an envelope with a printed picture and a handgun. Who Wilson works for, either a criminal organization or a shadowy cabal within the English government, is never explained, and that’s okay. We don’t need to know this. It doesn’t really matter.

When it comes to Wilson’s backstory, we receive limited information. We know he’s a war veteran. He’s seen combat. He’s lost many people dear to him. There’s pain there, but following his masculine code, it’s mostly unexplored. But we receive just enough information to get a sense of what happened to him.

It’s a film focused on quiet moments. We see Wilson enjoying the scenery, sightseeing, strolling through town, driving, and making inner observations that are not shared by the audience, though we can guess at its meaning through McShane’s bounty of facial expressions.

It’s McShane’s performance that drives this film, whose currently 81 years old but still looks fantastic. It’s not easy playing a stoic character, especially one as emotionally detached as Wilson. This is the culmination of decades worth of thespian artistry. McShane might be famous for his delivery of verbose dialogue — and his vocal talents have been used plenty of times in the voice acting department — but he can be just as powerful a performer by saying nothing at all.

The best scenes in the film come when he’s connecting with people. One particular highlight is the strange kinship Wilson makes with a child named Max (Oscar Coleman), in which the two of them bond over their love for parachuting. Or when Wilson enjoys a starry car ride with Gloria while listening to Julio Iglesias. In such moments, Wilson briefly comes out of his hard-edged shell, and they all work wonderfully thanks to McShane’s performance.

Ultimately, American Star is a sad film. It’s about a wasted life. The lost potential of one human. He could have been a loving man, even a good father, but he chose the wrong path. There’s nothing cool about being a professional killer, especially if you’re very good at it.

It’s a shame then that the film’s climax is rather disappointing. It leaves the viewer with a rather hollow feeling. It doesn’t ruin the film and it does give food for thought, but it’s hard not to deny that something seems lacking. It needed just an extra note of poignancy. It would have given the final shot so much more resonance.

Nonetheless, it’s a film worth seeing. If not for McShane’s performance, then for its beautiful scenery; if you’re ever thinking about visiting Fuerteventura, let this movie convince you.

It will connect with those who know the magic of traveling alone. Meeting people. Connecting with strangers. These quiet moments of introspection. When life is different and the worries are far away, and for a moment, you dream about a different life. Perhaps, life could be like this forever…

But it can’t. Deep down, you know it can’t. In the end, we all must go home.

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