American Star

The aged old hitman, out on what might be his last job, it's almost a sub genre of the action genre; George Clooney in "The American;" Liam Neeson in "Memory," and you might lump in most recently, Michael Fassbender in David Fincher's excellent film, "The Killer." Do we really need another film about this? "American Star" stars, Ian McShane as a hitman on what might be his last job - settling down on a tropical island presents itself as an option. You might know Ian McShane better as Winston from the John Wick series - all the good folks there are hitmen or hitwomen or hitpeople. Anyway, I was expecting a run of the mill, by the numbers hitman's-last-job film. I was also expecting it to be not very good. What I found was art. ART. It has the pacing and feel of "Sundown" or "Aftersun" or maybe a film by Wim Wenders or Terrence Malick. It’s a film by Gonzalo López-Gallego and he has crafted something special. It's slow and thoughtful but it grips your attention. Ian McShane’s performance is beautiful. A single bullet in this film is worth 10,000 bullets in "John Wick" - there is power and purpose. This is an excellent piece of cinema. Catch this in the theater if possible or on streaming services when available. Or grab a copy from your local video store. In Ottawa that would be Movies 'N' Stuff.