Stardom

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Buy This Item Stardom by Universal Studios  Available from Amazon  $24.98  on 12-21-2008     This witty and skillful examination of contemporary celebrity depicts a Canadian girl's rise from teen hockey player to international supermodel, with a sharp, satirical eye at every step along the way. The rise and fall of Tina (real-life model Jessica Paré) is depicted through a cunning intersplicing of fake talk shows, local and international news programs, documentary footage, rock videos, and fashion travelogues. Yet in the process, director Denys Arcand (<I>Jesus of Montreal</I>, <I>Love and Human Remains</I>) still creates characters that--though comic and exaggerated--are sneakily real, including an obsessive restaurateur (Dan Aykroyd), a snobbish ambassador (Frank Langella), and an aloof, calculating agent (Thomas Gibson). Along with well-chosen topical references (from Bret Easton Ellis to Tiger Woods), the movie features many characters suspiciously close to real celebrities, particularly a photographer/documentarian with a marked resemblance to Bruce Weber. <I>Stardom</I> is smart, funny, and ultimately sympathetic. <I>--Bret Fetzer</I> Reader Reviews The cult of celebrity and beauty is exposed in the blackest humor by Denys Arcand with the hysterical "Stardom." Jessica Pare as Tina Menzel is a vacuous beauty never allowed to be more than pretty face and sexy body. The casting of mostly Canadian actors, Dan Ackroyd (SNL), Thomas Gibson (Dahrma and Greg), and newcomer Pare are ensemble perfection in a scathing parody of entertainment television, expose documentaries, fashion, and confrontational talk shows. Frank Langella (HBO Unscripted) who rarely is seen in comedic roles portrays the stuffy Blaine de Castillion, an aging minor diplomat who marries Menzel, his young trophy wife only to be overthrown for another monosyllabic athletic type. Menzel as characterized by Pare is the uneducated, unsophisticated, and naive young girl swept to the heights of fashion and celebrity solely by the manipulation of others. She is a victim of both men and women of the vapid fashion and art trade that cashes in at her expense. The modeling world which Tina inhabits is revealed with stunning cinematography as Arcand strips away the layers of commercialism that relies on selling notions of youth and physical perfection like Menzel. No pc topic is overlooked by Arcand who takes a swipe at Canada's First Nation's eco-hype and indigenous spirituality, PETA animal rights fanaticism, heavily accented, and pretentious Toronto ET-like reporters, Canadian ice hockey, and feminist-lesbian-politics -- all with hilarious results. Gibson as the steely agent for a multinational public relation agency who represents Tina never permits his client to be anything but an innocent yet desirable money-making commodity. Gibson's brief b/w screen time reflected roots of high production cosmetic ads, and with Pare, is beautifully photographed to highlight the couple's physical attractiveness although theirs is the only relationship never consumated. His droll performance is ambiguous and dead on esp. teaching a 400-level Yale course in "Sports and Celebrity Entertainment" and warning students of Millie-Vanilli versus Celine Dion talent spotting. With little exposure beyond HBO, "Stardom" continues to be true to the reality-TV trend. Yet, it was ahead of its time particularly in forecasting the reactions to full frontal nudity and actress, Meg Ryan that unfortunately have come true. Arcand's film is so subtle with drollness and satire that much of its humor may fly over non-Canadian audience failing to grasp the sources of regional and nationalistic jibes. There are no sacred cows in Arcand's stable, just sharply insider commentary on the cult of celebrity. A film that should be included in every home collection.

Stardom Available from Amazon Price: $24.98 Updated on 12-21-2008.

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