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Stardom
Universal // R // September 25, 2001
List Price: $24.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
An obvious and occasionally predictable picture, "Stardom" does manage to mostly get through on its energy and the performance of newcomer Jessica Pare in the lead. Pare stars as Tina Menzhal, a small-town Canadian hockey player who is captured in a photograph that gains the attention of the modeling industry. Coming under the notice of famed photographer Philippe Gascon (Charles Berling), Tina's star quickly rises to international fame. Things don't quite as well as she'd hoped during her Paris visit and Tina finds herself back home.
Tina's plans for fame are not completely out of the question yet, though. A run-in with a famous agent (Thomas Gibson of TV's "Dharma & Greg") brings Tina back into the fold. The gorgeous teenager finds herself swept up into fame a bit more than she can handle, though as her new fame sparks rather unbelievable relationships with older men, including a restauranteur (Dan Ackroyd) and an ambassador (Frank Langella). All of this takes place largely through TV reports and other visual mediums - it does sound like a gimmick and although some of it does seem rather jarring at first, director Denys Arcand is able to move the film along smoothly and occasionally, the sort of "public" perspective that the film uses is smart and entertaining.
Unfortunately, director Arcand really doesn't seem to be able to find anything much to say. The media folks who surround Tina are meant to be shallow, but many of the supporting performers are obnoxious and overact to the point where it swallows up some of the possible humor (an unfunny and obvious riff on "the Jerry Springer Show" is an example, as are some of the MTV parodies). The film simply becomes a little too "wink-wink, nudge-nudge" at times and some further subtlety on the part of the filmmakers in presenting their message would have helped matters. As the film's second half becomes darker, it becomes unpleasant and slow.
The reason the film works is that the lead actors do do a fine job. Pare is elegant and has fine presence. She's sort of a mixture of Liv Tyler and a touch of Natalie Portman in terms of look and slightly reminiscent of Tyler in performance. Ackroyd is decent in a smallish role, as is Langella. The film has the look and feel of a moderately budgeted picture, with fine locations and slick cinematography.
Stardom and the modeling industry is ripe for parody, but "Stardom" doesn't really succeed in being funny or clever. Pare's performance provides evidence of a future star; she makes us care basically what happens to her, but the rest of "Stardom" comes across as rather shrill. It's a lot of flash and sparkle, but there's little underneath.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Stardom" receives a gorgeous 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer from Universal. The film's bright, poppy look translates quite well to the DVD presentation, which has only a few minor concerns. Sharpness and detail, fortunately, is not one of them. The picture appears consistently sharp, detailed and film-like, with nice depth to the image.
Where the picture occasionally runs into trouble is very slight edge enhancement. This wasn't too distracting, but I did find it noticable once or twice. I didn't see anything in the way of pixelation and print flaws were entirely absent; the picture remained free of marks and even speckles. Colors appeared bright, strong and well-saturated, with no instances of smearing or other problems. Flesh tones were accurate and natural, while black level was strong. A very nice transfer.
SOUND: Suprisingly, although the rest of "Stardom" seems like an especially strong production, the filmmakers have chosen to present the film only in Dolby 2.0. With the film's strong use of music, a full 5.1 mix would likely have been more enjoyable. Audio quality remained very strong, though. The music had a nice amount of bass behind it and sound effects remained crisp and natural sounding. Dialogue also remained clear, as well. For a 2.0 soundtrack, this presented an above-average experience.
MENUS:: Basic, non-animated menus that essentially use film-themed images and cover art.
EXTRAS:: The film's trailer is the only extra feature.
Final Thoughts: Pare's performance is very enjoyable and carries the film, which unfortunately doesn't rise to the occasion. "Stardom" is flashy and slick looking, but doesn't have much to say and becomes somewhat shrill. Universal's DVD presents the film with strong video and fine audio quality, but nothing in the way of extras.
An obvious and occasionally predictable picture, "Stardom" does manage to mostly get through on its energy and the performance of newcomer Jessica Pare in the lead. Pare stars as Tina Menzhal, a small-town Canadian hockey player who is captured in a photograph that gains the attention of the modeling industry. Coming under the notice of famed photographer Philippe Gascon (Charles Berling), Tina's star quickly rises to international fame. Things don't quite as well as she'd hoped during her Paris visit and Tina finds herself back home.
Tina's plans for fame are not completely out of the question yet, though. A run-in with a famous agent (Thomas Gibson of TV's "Dharma & Greg") brings Tina back into the fold. The gorgeous teenager finds herself swept up into fame a bit more than she can handle, though as her new fame sparks rather unbelievable relationships with older men, including a restauranteur (Dan Ackroyd) and an ambassador (Frank Langella). All of this takes place largely through TV reports and other visual mediums - it does sound like a gimmick and although some of it does seem rather jarring at first, director Denys Arcand is able to move the film along smoothly and occasionally, the sort of "public" perspective that the film uses is smart and entertaining.
Unfortunately, director Arcand really doesn't seem to be able to find anything much to say. The media folks who surround Tina are meant to be shallow, but many of the supporting performers are obnoxious and overact to the point where it swallows up some of the possible humor (an unfunny and obvious riff on "the Jerry Springer Show" is an example, as are some of the MTV parodies). The film simply becomes a little too "wink-wink, nudge-nudge" at times and some further subtlety on the part of the filmmakers in presenting their message would have helped matters. As the film's second half becomes darker, it becomes unpleasant and slow.
The reason the film works is that the lead actors do do a fine job. Pare is elegant and has fine presence. She's sort of a mixture of Liv Tyler and a touch of Natalie Portman in terms of look and slightly reminiscent of Tyler in performance. Ackroyd is decent in a smallish role, as is Langella. The film has the look and feel of a moderately budgeted picture, with fine locations and slick cinematography.
Stardom and the modeling industry is ripe for parody, but "Stardom" doesn't really succeed in being funny or clever. Pare's performance provides evidence of a future star; she makes us care basically what happens to her, but the rest of "Stardom" comes across as rather shrill. It's a lot of flash and sparkle, but there's little underneath.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Stardom" receives a gorgeous 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer from Universal. The film's bright, poppy look translates quite well to the DVD presentation, which has only a few minor concerns. Sharpness and detail, fortunately, is not one of them. The picture appears consistently sharp, detailed and film-like, with nice depth to the image.
Where the picture occasionally runs into trouble is very slight edge enhancement. This wasn't too distracting, but I did find it noticable once or twice. I didn't see anything in the way of pixelation and print flaws were entirely absent; the picture remained free of marks and even speckles. Colors appeared bright, strong and well-saturated, with no instances of smearing or other problems. Flesh tones were accurate and natural, while black level was strong. A very nice transfer.
SOUND: Suprisingly, although the rest of "Stardom" seems like an especially strong production, the filmmakers have chosen to present the film only in Dolby 2.0. With the film's strong use of music, a full 5.1 mix would likely have been more enjoyable. Audio quality remained very strong, though. The music had a nice amount of bass behind it and sound effects remained crisp and natural sounding. Dialogue also remained clear, as well. For a 2.0 soundtrack, this presented an above-average experience.
MENUS:: Basic, non-animated menus that essentially use film-themed images and cover art.
EXTRAS:: The film's trailer is the only extra feature.
Final Thoughts: Pare's performance is very enjoyable and carries the film, which unfortunately doesn't rise to the occasion. "Stardom" is flashy and slick looking, but doesn't have much to say and becomes somewhat shrill. Universal's DVD presents the film with strong video and fine audio quality, but nothing in the way of extras.
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