Stardom (2000)
In my hockey days I often wished that a producer would stumble upon me at practice, take a liking to my sweaty, stinky, beet red face and sign me to a modelling contract. Althought that falls into the “not bloody likely” realm for yours truly, that’s precisely what happened to Tina Menzhal, an amateur hockey player in Cornwall, Ontario who suddenly finds herself in the bright lights of fame and fortune.
A film by Quebecois film director Denys Arcand, Stardom was filmed using a largely Montreal-based cast and location. It was the break-through role for Montréaler Jessica Paré, who despite being a newcomer to the acting scene has been making in-roads in the industry at a rapid rate. Stardom is a exaggerated case study of media influence and celebrity life that really tries to poke ironic fun at our celeb obsessed society. The movie, like the life it’s trying to portray, is superficial, filled with manipulation and sex and…sex and other things. The movie has gotten mixed reviews, but I got a kick out of it because it involves a female hockey player from Cornwall and everything about that part of the movie reminds me of home and makes me all sniffly and nostalgic.
You can’t help but shake your head as Tina is dragged through the mud, gossiped about, worshiped, photographed and filmed. As a face she gains the exposure and fame that most can only dream about, but as a person, she loses the ability to be an individual. Her interviews are scripted, she’s encouraged to ‘just look pretty’ and keep her mouth shut, and she’s swept away in a world that it’s never clear she ever wanted. Tina eventually learns to use her star power and beauty as a tool to be used for getting everything her mind desires. She goes through boyfriends, 2 husbands, and friendship like a hot knife through butter, but remains unhappy. As a poster girl, she’s lost touch with herself, and must decide what she really wants out of life in order to be fulfilled.
On the quality scale, the movie was interesting, but drawn out. I felt like I was being bombarded by the same quips, the same barbs, and the same irony over and over throughout the film. Paré is passable as Menzhal, and Dan Ackroyd turns in a solid performance as her obsessed, eager to please husband, but on the whole the film felt a little flat. It had the potential to be a mockumentary of stupendous proportions, but due to the only infrequently amusing dialogue these 15 minutes of fame feel like every second of their 100 minute run time.
In Brief: An okay film that could have been a great film. While the Canadian content was nice, it did not make up for dull laspes that caused some stages of the story to drag. Good for a rent that falls in between blockbuster genres.
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POSTED IN: Film Reviews, Mockumentary
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