American Star Review – Breathtaking Cinematography, Riveting Suspense Thriller

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Category: Indies, Docs, Foreign Film

Published on Tuesday, 23 January 2024 19:23

Written by Janet Walker

American Star, from IFC Films, presents an intriguing, mournful, thriller, as a seasoned assassin is sent to the tropical paradise of Fuerteventura on assignment and becomes emotionally entangled with a beautiful islander and for a moment forgets.

The film begins in the airport as Wilson, played by Ian McShane arrives in a sun-bleached locale that is as under the radar as he is anonymous. He arrives at the home of his target and slips inside the villa. While is he at the house looking for his target, a woman, Gloria, played by Nora Arnezeder, arrives and jumps into the pool. Wilson exits without being seen.

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As the target is missing, Wilson, instead of returning to London, decides to stay on the island and wait out the delay. He checks into a hotel, and attempts to blend in, which is impossible as his no luggage day trip, turned into a week stay.

At the hotel, young boy on vacation with his parents, played by Oscar Coleman, seems to be taken with the man in black, and as their rooms are on the same floor, seems to like waiting for him in the hall or approaching him at breakfast. The wonderment of an unspoiled view of the world is captivating, and while our assassin could be cold and unfelling, something about the tropical location is changing him.

Like any resort town, Fuerteventura has an inviting nightlife with locals and beach life dropouts earning a living off the tourists. Wilson, while he waits, walks the boardwalk and happens upon the motorcycle that was outside his targets house on his first day.

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Hoping to gather information, he orders a drink from Gloria, and the two begin talking. Behind the bar is a picture of a ship, the American Star, a 1930 cruise ship that ran aground, and became part of the local culture.

As a good local bartender, Gloria takes out the map and provides him with directions. With Gloria as his guide the two make a day of visiting the American Star. When they stop for dinner, at a diner with breathtaking views, a second assassin, played by Adam Nagaitis, who is known by Wilson, approaches them. Wilson realizes he has been dispatched to the island to make sure the job is finished. The hunter has become the hunted.

When his target finally returns, Wilson is there waiting for him in his house, as he had been a few days earlier. But in this brief time, everything has changed. He came to kill a man who he had never laid eyes on. That was easy. Now, nothing will be.

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American Star draws the viewer into the intrigue, suspense, drama, and Wilson's emotional struggle. The limited cast, as the film is essentially a two-hander, with Ian McShane central to each of the pairings, all resonate well with the audience. We see his character change, the man he was when he landed, after a week in this exotic location with pristine sun-bleached beaches, beachcombing and the warmth of the tropical destination provides prospective.

Obviously, the island is central to the storyline. The destination seems to reach beyond the screen, and for beach lovers, or those with pleasurable memories of tropical nights on some exotic island paradise somewhere, American Star will transport you.

Riveting, enthralling, and intriguing, American Star opens in theaters and anywhere you can rent movies on January 26, 2024. See it.

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Country: U.S.

Language: English.

Runtime: 107 minutes.

Director: Gonzalo López-Gallego.

Producer: Michael Elliot, Ian McShane.

Executive Producer: Peter Hampden, Pedro Hernandez Santos, Phil Hunt, Evangelo Kioussis, Norman Merry, Jim Mooney, Compton Ross, Walli Ullah.

Writer: Nacho Faerna.

Cast: Ian McShane, Nora Arnezeder, Adam Nagaitis Oscar Coleman, Fanny Ardant, Thomas Kretschmann, Andres Gertrudix.