Stardust: Another Fractured Fairy Tale
Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert DeNiro

By Breanne Boland August 23, 2007 Issue

We’ve had a lot in the way of postmodern fairy tales in recent years. The Shrek series has been the most visible and most successful, but they all employ some variation of this formula: take classic story (boy loves girl, boy seeks destiny), add traditional complications (witches, dragons, royal successions), and throw in distinctly modern elements (kung fu, cross-dressing, jokes about sexual deviance). The ending should be happy but deliberately off-kilter. It’s generally successful enough that the subversion and imagination that was once delightful has become commonplace, for better or for worse.

Happily, Stardust has the advantage of source material. Based on a comic book-turned-novel by the incredibly talented Neil Gaiman, the story remains the center of the film, rather than the anachronistic jokes that characterize other contributions to this new genre.

Simple shop-boy Tristran Thorn falls for Victoria, a beautiful girl who’s a big fish in the small pond of their village of Wall. Wall is named for the long stone wall that separates it from… what? Tristran has only ever seen a meadow on the other side, but supposedly the stone border holds magic and all the problems that come with it back. One night, after snagging a chance to be with Victoria alone, a star falls on the far side of the wall. Tristran vows to bring the star back to Victoria if she promises to marry him. Enamored with the idea of yet another gift from yet another suitor, she accepts, and Tristran sneaks across the wall the next day.

Unfortunately, fallen stars are far more valuable than lover’s trinkets on the magical side of the wall. The star becomes of paramount importance to a pack of princes, who must seek out the star — and kill each other — in order to inherit the throne of their magical land. At the same time, a trio of sister witches seek the star, as devouring it will restore their long-gone youth. Oh, and by the way, the star is actually a living, breathing, complaining woman who has no idea about the flock of fairy tale mainstays pursuing her.

Tristran finds the star first and after some coaxing and magic, she unwillingly begins to follow him back toward Wall. On the way, they encounter the princes, Michelle Pfeiffer’s hilarious rapidly aging witch, and Robert DeNiro as a gruff pirate with a surprising secret life. Pfeiffer and DeNiro really steal this movie from under the younger leads. Their roles are naturally hammy, and the seasoned actors make the most of their flamboyant scenes. Pfeiffer in particular is a pleasure to watch, making the typical fairy tale ending for her spitting, homicidal, vicious witch a little sadder than perhaps the filmmakers might have wished.

In fact, Charlie Cox and Claire Danes are overshadowed somewhat. Cox’s young hero doesn’t have much personality outside of his good intentions and occasionally dodgy taste in women. Danes’ belligerent star is funny, however her badly defined powers create a deus ex machina marring the entire third act. Still, most of Stardust is an uncommon pleasure. The film shows a real affection for its characters, even the morally dubious ones, rather than using them as set ups for jokes that seem to say nothing except, “Hey guys, did we mention this is set in the 1800s? But we are totally writing it in the future! Ha!” Stardust has flaws, but they mostly come toward the end, late enough that you can enjoy the rest of its gentle-spirited story guiltlessly.

Bottom line: a goodhearted way to spend an evening

Superbad
Jonah Hill, Michael Cera

If ever you have walked out of a movie theater and said, “The film was pretty good, but did they have to swear so much?” this is not the movie for you. Otherwise, go see this modern version of the teen sex comedy, created and produced by many of the people involved in Knocked Up and The 40-Year-Old Virgin.

Seeing this movie is like eavesdropping on people having the most hilarious conversation ever and being able to do it for two hours. Hill and Cera play a pair of best friends on the cusp of graduating high school. They try to fix their social ineptitude in the course of one bizarre night that includes insane cops, a most ridiculous fake ID, and incredibly embarrassing drunk talk.

Coming Attractions

Aug. 24
The Nanny Diaries - Based on the baffling top-selling confessional novel. Scarlett Johansson stars as the eponymous emissary into wealthy New York society. Guess what: they’re all callous and cruel! Ahh, doesn’t that make you feel better?

Resurrecting the Champ - Josh Hartnett plays a young reporter who thinks he’s found a scoop in Samuel L. Jackson’s vagrant, who claims he’s a forgotten, once-famous boxer. Only, of course, not all is as it seems.

War - Jason Statham’s FBI agent tries to avenge his dead partner by hunting down his assassin, played by Jet Li.

Aug. 31
Halloween - The horror genre should send flowers each week to Rob Zombie, the incredibly talented man whose inspiration spreads across several media. Even when his films aren’t great, they’re interesting, so his remake of this classic is worth checking out.

Balls of Fury - Ok, Will Ferrell. Look what thou hath wrought. Now we’re avalanched with movies full of schlubby dudes saying unlikely combinations of random words while doing weird things. Like ping-pong played to the death, overseen by Christopher Walken. It’ll probably be funny, but it reads like a parody conceived by Internet nerds.

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