American Star

McShane builds into the role throughout this metaphor of waiting. Waiting to let go of the things in his life and coming to terms with whatever was killing him slowly, military life, loss, divorce, family, shame, childhood dreams, joy. It's a backdrop for the end for the lead, where dialogue becomes less meaningful, his sunken dreams washed up, perhaps mythically on an abandoned shoreline. Ultimately he has followed orders to the end, perhaps even beyond into purgatory itself.

American Star seems a misleading title somewhat, but it's an interesting and captivating narrative for those more introspective evenings.

Two bits of trivia for you. 1. Ian McShane is one of those rare actors who has never given a bad performance. 2. The Canary Islands are, geologically, not islands but mountain tops. Once, long ago, when sea levels were lower, there was a civilization there. The reason for this trivia? Although McShane has never given a bad performance, he does occasionally take parts that are less than his due. Arguably, this is one of them. And, two, unless you succumb to the hypnotic delight of chillin' on the island (and many of you will indeed succumb!), this meandering and moody film may not be for you. It is literally 10 full minutes before we have actual dialog. To say the pace is slow is like saying water is wet. There is indeed some action in the Third Dramatic Act but, in all honesty, by then you will have absolutely decided whether or not this film is for you. And voted, accordingly, with your keyboard. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

I really hate giving a film that has nice scenery and Ian McShane a bad review. McShane puts in yet another seasoned performance and sells this empty script as best he can. This should have been within a 30 minute TV show time slot but is needlessly extended almost 2 full hours.

In short, an aging hitman comes to an island and waits for the target to arrive. Dullness ensues and an eventual confrontation. While it ends poetically it wasn't too well thought out. There was one scene which really shouldn't have happened if this film was to be what it tries to sell and it doesn't sell what it purports to sell very well either. Instead, it resorts to absolute minimalism and lets you, the audience, try to fill in the huge blanks and empty spaces it leaves. And for 2 hours, that's a major chore as you wait for signs of something to happen. We got the point that we're on Island time but that doesn't mean the audience needs to eperience it in full.

The real problem - no back story so why should you care about any of the characters. Even the main character reveals precious little about himself and it's nothing more than skin deep. You're not missing much and the actors elevate a lazy script.

Ian McShane was one of those actors that has either "good" or amazing performances. His acting in this beautifully-shot thriller set in the majestic Canary Islands was nothing short of outstanding. His character-acting was one of the finest I've seen in the industry. While his character was the center of this film, the smart acting of the supporting characters complimented so well with the rest because it provided such stability to the quality of the performances which was essential in keeping this slow-burn thriller from being too boring or too overwhelming to watch. The cinematography was one of the bests I've seen this year.

I'm not sure why this has a low rating. It's actually very well shot, the acting is very good, and while slow it's correctly paced for the genre.

The story is pretty rudimentary but it's handled well. The director does a great job framing the scenes and the setting is really beautiful.

This isn't an action movie so I guess the low ratings are from people who expected a man in his 70s to be doing Jason Statham level fight scenes?

It's a hitman story and it's a good one. The villain is played well too and the story does crash together at the end in an interesting way.

If you like hitman movies and appreciate slower paced, character driven and building stories you'll likely enjoy this.