The American Friend

An American art forger (Dennis Hopper) manipulates a purported terminally ill German picture framer (Bruno Ganz) into committing murders for a shadowy underground organization. From Patricia Highsmith's novel Ripley's Game (and remade a few decades on under the same title with John Malkovich), Wim Wenders' adaptation is a somewhat obtuse, enervating thriller given substance through great filmmaking, story elements, and and a central performance by Ganz. Hopper is a strange, though not unwelcome casting choice *** 1/2 out of ****