The American Friend

Wim Wenders writes and directs this neo-noir crime drama starring Dennis Hopper as a seedy underworld figure who persuades an innocent, honest family man to become an assassin. In Hamburg, American Tom Ripley (Hopper) convinces his boss to employ Jonathan Zimmerman (Bruno Ganz), who is dying from a rare blood disease, to kill his next target, a rival gangster. Although he at first refuses, Ripley convinces Zimmerman to carry out the hit by convincing him his illness is worse than he believes.

However, after completing the job, Zimmerman finds himself being pulled further into Ripley's life of crime and dangerous games.