Stardust came out this summer to little fanfare. Apparently it was difficult for people to classify and it got lost in the shuffle. Most reviews were positive, comparing it to The Princess Bride. The trailer didn't help, trying to make it look like it was a Lord or the Rings-like epic. I didn't remember it but The Princess Bride had an awful trailer as well. How is that possible? I watched Stardust on DVD and I think it's more like a cross between Time Bandits and The Princess Bride with a little Pushing Daisies thrown in.
After a brief prelude the film is about several people trying to find a fallen star that has taken the human form of Claire Danes. Tristan wants to find it to give it to Victoria so she'll marry him because she looks like Sienna Miller. The evil witch Lamia wants it so she can look like Michelle Pfeiffer again. Various evil princes want it so they can become King to replace Peter O'Toole. In various adventures they meet other witches, an air ship captain and a thieves fence.
Every 2 minutes in the first half of this film there's another new whimsical revelation about this world: enchanted string, transporting candles, a chorus of the ghosts of slain princes, etc. The second half has fewer, but it does have my new favorite use of a voodoo doll. It's a lot of fun and there are great visuals. I loved how the camera zoomed out to show a map and then zoomed in across countryside to show a new locale, giving it a real sense of place. Much of the film is really fun, particularly Michelle Pfeiffer and Ricky Gervais as the fence.
However the film isn't nearly as much fun as The Princess Bride. First of all, while some of the prose is interesting, there are no memorable lines or even particularly funny ones. Certainly funny situations, but not lines. Also I wish Tristan was more noble, I found I wasn't rooting for him as much as I should have been. And I certainly could have done without seeing Robert DeNiro try to channel Nathan Lane in the role of a closeted flaming pirate air ship captain.
The film is rated PG-13 and that seems right. While most of the film would be fine for kids, there are a few quick shots that take it beyond PG. The reading of entrails, mystical beheadings, the slightest hints of rape and slavery. It really surprises me that the filmmakers decided to put these in as I don't think they added to the story.
Overall it's a fun move with a lot of creative things going on. It was missing some kind of magic and that left it with an odd mood, but it's still worth seeing and deserves a bigger audience than it got.
2 comments:
As your resident expert on The Gays, I have to question whether it's really possible to be both "flaming" and "closeted."
I've been "meaning to see" Stardust. Now that it's on DVD I'm more likely to get around to it.
I understand what you're saying, and believe he was both.
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