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Stardom
Universal // R // September 25, 2001
List Price: $24.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
Over the past year or so, I've gotten to be quite a fan of the Montréal film scene, due in large part to an unhealthy obsession with the Fox Family series Big Wolf On Campus. Nearly every project lensed in or around Montréal draws at least a couple of members of its tight-knit actor community, virtually all of whom have appeared in some capacity in my favorite television series. Stardom, for example, features no less than six leads and guest-stars from Big Wolf On Campus, and this factored heavily into my acquisition of the long-delayed DVD, which the Digital Bits rumored as a May release as far back as February. Yes, I suppose collecting DVDs that feature cameos from relatively obscure actors is on this side of strange, but it's led to me to some very entertaining movies that I likely never would have discovered otherwise, such as Paul Newman's Where The Money Is and the female teen angst of All I Wanna Do. Stardom is the third such film, this time starring Jessica Paré, who briefly appeared in an episode of Big Wolf On Campus entitled "Time And Again", a role she described in an interview with iFilm.com as "the girl with the big boobs." What better type of person to play a supermodel who finds fame and fortune nearly overnight?
Stardom is, if you couldn't guess from the title, a view of how newfound celebrity can disrupt the life of a relatively well-balanced young woman. Accordingly, nearly the entire movie is told from a combination of segments from television programs and documentary footage. This isn't nearly as disjointed or gimmicky as it might sound; Stardom flows very naturally, and the different elements are incorporated together seamlessly. Paré stars as Tina Menzhal, an 18-year-old tomboy who's still devastated from the abandonment of her professional hockey player father four years earlier. A chance photograph taken during a hockey match brings Tina to the attention of a local modeling agency, and a goofy ice cream promotion quickly catapults her to the seven figure glamour of modeling in New York and Paris. The naïve Tina finds herself hanging off the arms of a number of older men, including a successful and notoriously jealous restauranteur (Dan Ackroyd) and a cruel, unrelenting ambassador (Frank Langella). Her life spirals downward, as her once-gleaming star loses its sheen and painfully descends back into obscurity.
Okay, that plot synopsis makes Stardom sound generic, hackneyed, and scarcely different from your average made-for-Lifetime TV movie. I enjoyed Stardom quite a bit, and writer/director Denys Arcand deserves a hearty thumbs-up for delivering such an unoriginal cautionary tale in an inventive, engaging way. The production values are spectacularly high, and the ratio of dollars to on-screen presentation almost certainly would have most Hollywood filmmakers crying in their chutney. The acting is uniformly solid, which isn't a surprise given the legendary talent of Frank Langella and a surprisingly low key Dan Ackroyd. Thomas Gibson (best known as Greg, as in Dharma And...) is another standout as a monotone, voracious agent, and Paré is quite convincing in her first starring role. With a subject that's been covered on celluloid as often as that of Stardom, this would be a pretty easy movie to screw up. That Arcand manages to pull off this film so splendidly is no small feat.
Video: The 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer on this DVD release of Stardom is nearly as stunning as its leading lady. The image is warm and bears a very three-dimensional appearance, bolstered by phenomenal shadow detail and contrast. Colors, given the appropriate lighting, are bold and vibrant, particularly in the homages to hyperdramatic perfume ads and vapid entertainment programs. There are no print flaws to speak of at all, with the presence of dust limited to a couple of miniscule specks near the end. In fact, I'm hard pressed to find anything negative to say at all. There are a couple of very minor anomolies, such as a slight halo around a security guard near the 42 minute mark and a noise-riddled chalkboard during a lecture on sports/entertainment management. These scarcely warrant a mention, though, as Stardom comes dangerously close to approaching reference quality. This is a truly superior effort that makes for one of the most exceptional looking DVDs of recent memory.
Audio: The Dolby stereo surround track sounds incredible when it's given an opportunity to shine. Much of Stardom is spent with cameras documenting conversations, so my humble sound system understandably didn't get much of a workout, though dialogue is without exception crisp and free of even the faintest hiss or distortion. When it rains, it pours, though, particularly whenever music comes into play. Paré is the eye candy in a crunchy techno-flavored music video that blasts from every channel and, even though it's not really my cup of tea musically, is rich and enveloping. Given the sort of movie Stardom is, I doubt the full 6-channel treatment would've opened it up much more. Still, very nicely done.
Supplements: The only extra is a full-frame trailer.
Conclusion: Stardom is yet another in a long line of DVDs that garnered mostly groans from critics worldwide, yet managed to find some way to appeal to my sensibilities. Though ultimately fluffy and insubstantial, the journey to the film's fairly predictable ending is an enjoyable one that's well worth taking. Stardom is highly recommended as a rental, but the lack of supplements and a gut feeling that it won't hold up well to repeat viewings makes it difficult to recommend with such enthusiasm as a purchase.
Stardom is, if you couldn't guess from the title, a view of how newfound celebrity can disrupt the life of a relatively well-balanced young woman. Accordingly, nearly the entire movie is told from a combination of segments from television programs and documentary footage. This isn't nearly as disjointed or gimmicky as it might sound; Stardom flows very naturally, and the different elements are incorporated together seamlessly. Paré stars as Tina Menzhal, an 18-year-old tomboy who's still devastated from the abandonment of her professional hockey player father four years earlier. A chance photograph taken during a hockey match brings Tina to the attention of a local modeling agency, and a goofy ice cream promotion quickly catapults her to the seven figure glamour of modeling in New York and Paris. The naïve Tina finds herself hanging off the arms of a number of older men, including a successful and notoriously jealous restauranteur (Dan Ackroyd) and a cruel, unrelenting ambassador (Frank Langella). Her life spirals downward, as her once-gleaming star loses its sheen and painfully descends back into obscurity.
Okay, that plot synopsis makes Stardom sound generic, hackneyed, and scarcely different from your average made-for-Lifetime TV movie. I enjoyed Stardom quite a bit, and writer/director Denys Arcand deserves a hearty thumbs-up for delivering such an unoriginal cautionary tale in an inventive, engaging way. The production values are spectacularly high, and the ratio of dollars to on-screen presentation almost certainly would have most Hollywood filmmakers crying in their chutney. The acting is uniformly solid, which isn't a surprise given the legendary talent of Frank Langella and a surprisingly low key Dan Ackroyd. Thomas Gibson (best known as Greg, as in Dharma And...) is another standout as a monotone, voracious agent, and Paré is quite convincing in her first starring role. With a subject that's been covered on celluloid as often as that of Stardom, this would be a pretty easy movie to screw up. That Arcand manages to pull off this film so splendidly is no small feat.
Video: The 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer on this DVD release of Stardom is nearly as stunning as its leading lady. The image is warm and bears a very three-dimensional appearance, bolstered by phenomenal shadow detail and contrast. Colors, given the appropriate lighting, are bold and vibrant, particularly in the homages to hyperdramatic perfume ads and vapid entertainment programs. There are no print flaws to speak of at all, with the presence of dust limited to a couple of miniscule specks near the end. In fact, I'm hard pressed to find anything negative to say at all. There are a couple of very minor anomolies, such as a slight halo around a security guard near the 42 minute mark and a noise-riddled chalkboard during a lecture on sports/entertainment management. These scarcely warrant a mention, though, as Stardom comes dangerously close to approaching reference quality. This is a truly superior effort that makes for one of the most exceptional looking DVDs of recent memory.
Audio: The Dolby stereo surround track sounds incredible when it's given an opportunity to shine. Much of Stardom is spent with cameras documenting conversations, so my humble sound system understandably didn't get much of a workout, though dialogue is without exception crisp and free of even the faintest hiss or distortion. When it rains, it pours, though, particularly whenever music comes into play. Paré is the eye candy in a crunchy techno-flavored music video that blasts from every channel and, even though it's not really my cup of tea musically, is rich and enveloping. Given the sort of movie Stardom is, I doubt the full 6-channel treatment would've opened it up much more. Still, very nicely done.
Supplements: The only extra is a full-frame trailer.
Conclusion: Stardom is yet another in a long line of DVDs that garnered mostly groans from critics worldwide, yet managed to find some way to appeal to my sensibilities. Though ultimately fluffy and insubstantial, the journey to the film's fairly predictable ending is an enjoyable one that's well worth taking. Stardom is highly recommended as a rental, but the lack of supplements and a gut feeling that it won't hold up well to repeat viewings makes it difficult to recommend with such enthusiasm as a purchase.
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