“Stardust” (Paramount Pictures)
Catch A Falling Star
“Stardust” is a fairy tale. As you know stories of this type can make wonderful movies or terrible ones. “Stardust” falls somewhere in the middle of those extremes. In this film the “star” power is much more potent than the “star” story, and that is just one of its problems. Still having Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert De Niro heading up the cast makes it a must see for certain people.
In the film a young man named Tristan (Charlie Cox) is in love with the local village beauty, Victoria (Sienna Miller). In order to get her to agree to marry him, he says he will bring her back a falling star that landed in the territory beyond the wall that runs by his village. This territory is forbidden but Tristan goes into it anyway.
Here he finds that the fallen star is a young woman in human form. She calls herself Yvaine (Claire Danes). Tristan plans to bring her back to the village and to Victoria but along the way he and Yvaine get sidetracked by a pirate (De Niro) in a flying ship and a pursuing witch (Pfeiffer) looking for eternal youth.
The pirate, Captain Shakespeare (De Niro) is a rugged man who has another side to him. This side he shows only to Tristan and Yvaine and it is quite a surprise. It allows De Niro to show his comic abilities and provides a lot of humor for the film.
The witch is looking for Yvaine so that she can eat her heart. The heart of a falling star will provide her with a return to the beauty of her youth. Pfeiffer really throws herself into this role and has a field day with all the histrionics this part involves.
Danes is one of the weakest parts of the movie. She is not the best actress in the world and she is no beauty either. In the role of Yvaine she sports a bad blonde wig and for some reason they seem to have shaved off her eyebrows. Not a good look for her.
The potential love story between Yvaine and Tristan is the key to enjoyment of the movie and Danes does not make Yvaine someone for whom you are pulling. She lacks the magical spark the character needs and the warmth that Tristan’s soul mate must have.
Opposite her Cox is boyish and likeable. Tristan has to grow from a callous youth to a virile leading man and Cox makes the transition. You can see this change reflected in Victoria’s attitude towards him.
The film is rated PG-13 for violence and profanity.
There are a lot of individual good parts in “Stardust” but somehow they do not connect together in an enjoyable manner. There are little stretches of boredom that disrupt the flow and make the sum less than the individual parts.
I scored “Stardust” a tarnished 5 out of 10.
