Stardom

Stardom_720p(480P)

source: Stardom

So...here's the story. As a montrealer and as a Canadian, I'm constantly pushing myself to see some Canadian films. Problem is, there aren't any. Sure, you've got Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter and and The Red Violin, but..uh...other than that, not so much. Ahhhh....but wait! Here's Stardom. And Gosh, it stars just about every montreal actor there is! And Gee! It's directed by Denys Arcand-why he's just fantastic. Perhaps I should see it. So I did. About a week ago. And I'm still scratching my head. What the heck is this movie? I can't figure it out for the life of me. Jessica Pare is pretty good as Tina. She embodies the role, and does it gracefully. Dan Ackroyd and Frank Langella are also pretty good too. I've never seen Ackroyd like this before, he's very impressive. The overall film is not easy to classify or understand. I guess it's a satire of the media and I guess it's all about fame and celebrities, but gosh darn...I just don't know... Listen: Go check it out. It's at least cool to see Montreal double for practically every other city in the world.

I found the "Stardom" DVD alone and lonesome on my public library shelf. I knew nothing about it but the short synopsis on the DVD box was interesting, so I watched it. At first the quirky characters really bothered me, then I realized it is a comedy spoof, then everything seemed to fit. Although it isn't a truly excellent film, I rate it a bit higher than most. I would think those who think movies like "Waiting For Guffman" or "Austin Powers" are fun would also like this one. The premise is very simple, very ordinary - a tomboy hockey-playing Canadian girl is noticed by a photographer and, literally out of thin air with no talent, the industry and media convert her into a supermodel. Along the way she encounters many strange people and strange situations, some she handles well, most she doesn't. I liked it because the humor is unconventional and fun. SPOILERS - do not read further if you have not seen this film. OK? First off, Jessica Paré who plays the hockey player turned model doesn't look like a hockey player, especially in the opening scene where she is skating among two teams of real female hockey players. However, staying in character, one of the funniest moments was when she was a working model, in the street with fur on for a photo shoot, a PETA lady runs up and throws red paint on the fur, the model turns around, knocks the protester to the ground, and commences to totally whip up on her. The funny part was the unexpected reaction of a "model". As a model she gets romantically involved with almost every male she works with - her protographer, a restauranteur (Dan Aykroyd), an ambassador (Frank Langella), and a couple of others. She naievly thinks they adore her for her brains, when in fact all each wanted was a trophy girlfriend or wife. That is part of the spoof of this movie. Aykroyd's character is so taken with her that he leaves his wife and family, sets up a new restaurant in NYC, gives her lavish gifts, is eventually arrested for cheating his partners by embezzlement. He destroyed his life for his fantasy of love with the model.

I thought Stardom was a very good comedy/drama. Jessica Pare did an excellent job and she is very beautiful in this part. The movie depicted the problems that models face in the high profile modeling world. Good cinematograpy and script.

This was the first Denys Arcandes movie I've seen, however I never realized it was his work when I first watched it. I've always heard such great stuff about his movies, I had to wonder why I never heard anything about this one. Now I know why. Most of his work is thoughful and leads others to think, as well as being very entertaining to watch through their standard type comedy which everyone can relate to and their (often) dramatic storylines. This movie was just a simple comedy with noting to it. The story wasn't up to his standard and all in all it was pretty boring. So if you're interested in Denys Arcandes at all, then good. Watch Jesus of Montreal or the Decline of the American Empire, or his best so far- the Barbarian Invasions, but if you watch this one don't hold it against him.

I am watching this movie now and beside myself at how poor the casting was in this film, it is terribly and terrificly acted by most with maybe the exception of Tina's sister, a virtually unknown actress, maybe the actors have no comedic timing, but Pare specifically makes on camera acting mistakes I haven't seen since on camera acting 101, she is unbelievably plastic and lacks any emotive qualities whatsoever, there are no layers or dimensions in her character structure whatsoever her likability is nil, I'm watching a train wreck by a director who should've taken more care with his film instead of just collecting a paycheck which is what this film looks like

The movie is quite clever and pops along very quickly, making it an easy 'watch'. The great looking Jessica Pare does an excellent job playing the rags to riches to rags supermodel Tina Menzhal, and Dan Aykroyd plays a resturant tycoon who loses everything in his pursuit of Tina. I thought this movie was very funny and fun to watch. Nothing too heavy or groundbreaking, just good clean fun. 7 of 10.

Really an excellent little film, it reads like an update of DARLING in that it details the vacuous inner life of a young woman whose physical appearance is her only quality but one which take her around the world as a successful model and to the very pinnacle of her profession. However it is something of a cautionary tale as her inner vacuousness means she can never appreciate what she has or analyze how she got it. Because of her looks and success and fame no one ever stops to ask her. She is a moral imbecile but that too goes unremarked upon because everybody else in her world is one too and the only thing that is noticed about a human personality is material success i.e. either you're a winner or a loser. The ending is perfect as it plays far more realistically than the comeuppance of Darling where the heroine has achieved the status of a princess but yet she is deathly bored. The heroine of STARDOM doesn't even have that ability to self reflect. While STARDOM plays less bitterly than DARLING because it is less a poison portrait of a manipulating bitch than social criticism, a presentation of an idiotic society which finds and discards superficial heroes, the more blank the better, as a matter of course. If the heroine of STARDOM actually had an intellect, or a central nervous system, she might be regarded as a victim but she seems to have less self awareness than the replicantes of BLADE RUNNER. The ending is chilling for the more sentient audience members, others will be puzzled by what the big deal is at an apparent happy ending. These are the people who are indirectly being criticized in STARDOM.

STARDOM is a film that has been thoroughly misunderstood. Seen as a film about the superficiality of the modeling industry and the trivia of all media commentary, it is actually a film about the absence of a fully determining, existential self. On reflection--something most viewers have not had the patience to do--STARDOM is about the loss of moral centre in a world devoted to celebrity celebration and instant gratification. Have a look at it. Think about it. There is more to STARDOM than meets the eye!