An action thriller, American Star is not. [...] What Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego (Apollo 18, The Hollow Point) has created is a far more subtle and introspective look into the toll violence and isolation can take on the human mind.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 7, 2024

Director Gonzalo López-Gallego keeps the rest of his film compelling by smartly building every scene around McShane's craggy charisma and dry charm, all set against a nicely shot succession of beautiful Canarian locations.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 7, 2024

Almost serene hitman drama is an incredible vessel for a vintage Ian McShane performance. Rich in texture and melancholy , but deliberately sparse in rollicking gun play

| Original Score: 4 | Mar 21, 2024

It works well as a character study of a mysterious hit man, who shows us his human side.

| Original Score: B | Mar 5, 2024

American Star is a deliberately paced, artful-looking story of an assassin who is emotionally torn over killing or saving a young woman who is his target. People expecting a fast-moving action film will be disappointed. This drama is a character study.

| Feb 27, 2024

Although the script is a bit formulaic and fairly predictable, the treat here is seeing McShane do what he does best, which is to project a lively mind ticking away under the placid surface of a snake-like visage.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 21, 2024

This slow-burn thriller that seems either purposely opaque or confusingly written still manages to captivate thanks to its commanding lead performance and gorgeous landscapes.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 20, 2024

This dialed-down thriller is worth seeing thanks to its eye-catching cinematography, intense atmosphere and absorbing lead performance.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 16, 2024

Despite [McShane's] undeniable gravitas, even his screen presence can’t save “American Star” from a combination of slightness and pretention.

| Original Score: C | Feb 6, 2024

We’re at the point where many of our greatest performers are ready to tell stories about the experience of having lived long lives and what that means... McShane’s performance that comes from a performer who wants to convey that.

| Feb 2, 2024

…maybe American Star isn’t for thrill-seekers, but it’s a classic existential thriller powered by an iconic star…

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 1, 2024

Not unlike an assassin who is weary about an upcoming assignment, to watch McShane here is to see a great character actor in search of a film worthy of his talents.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jan 31, 2024

American Star is a smart, thoughtful, precise movie that knows what it wants to say and how it intends to convey that message.

| Jan 30, 2024

While the narrative is meandering and seemingly aimless, there are enjoyable flashes of comedy and drama along the way. And the film is peppered with big moments.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 30, 2024

Movies about professional assassins have an obligation to be juicier and more consistently fascinating than this.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Jan 29, 2024

There's no doubt that it's been a blast to watch McShane ham it up in the John Wick films over the last decade, but American Star offers a nice counterpoint, showing just how good the actor can be when given a role as layered and engrossing as this one.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jan 27, 2024

Ian McShane holds American Star together as an engaging character study

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 27, 2024

It’s artistic without being pretentious, thoughtful, and elegiac without treading into monotony, beautifully acted without drawing too much attention to its stars.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Jan 26, 2024

Ian McShane, an actor of tremendouis power and authority, holds this existential enigma together as we watch, enthralled.

| Original Score: B+ | Jan 26, 2024

This is an unusually intelligent and purposeful movie that doesn't say much but is full of feeling.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 26, 2024