StarStruck - der Star, der mich liebte

Seriously, I loved this movie. It was cute and sweet. It created a nice mood. After I watched it, I wanted to see it again.

It reminded me of "10 things I hate about you". I love all "Taming of the Shrew" re-makes. I thought it was kind of funny that the non-famous girl is the biggest brat and has the most temper tantrums. If you like this type of movies, you should give this one a chance. It's fun and entertaining. What else can you really ask of one of these movies, right?

(I might like better music, but even that could be worse. I also wondered where that mud-puddle in the middle of the desert came from, but whatever)

My point is that "Starstruck" doesn't tell a new story, but it's one that I always enjoy in all its incarnations.

"Starstruck" (2010) is as good as most Disney movies and much better than some (insert "Princess Protection Program" here). Think "Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!" (2004) minus that film's PG elements.

At its core it is another fairy tale as Kalamazoo teenager Jessica Olsen (nicely played by Danielle Campbell) visits Hollywood and accidentally meets mega-star teen heartthrob Christopher Wilde (Sterling Knight). Knight is joined by his "Sonny With A Chance" cast-mate Brandon Mychal Smith.

The secret of this type of fairy tale lies in how well they connect with viewers; if the movie can get viewers to strongly identify with the character as she gets a huge rush from suddenly becoming part of the celebrity world, the viewer will get hooked. Then the challenge is to keep them hooked for as long as possible. "Starstruck" hooks you and provides this vicarious rush well past the midway point, in large part because of the twist of having Jessica rather under-whelmed by the circumstances. But eventually the wheels fall off, or in this case sink into an unlikely mud hole. The illusion bursts and everyone crashes back to reality because it is impossible to suspend disbelief when the AMC Pacer (Petunia) sinks into the mire. From that point on it is just overwrought melodrama until the movie finally recovers and goes out on a very nice reconciliation sequence.

Chelsea Staub is again unsuccessful at playing a mean girl (remember the "Bratz" disaster). Too much natural likability, you would think they would have figured this out by now.

Maggie Castle does a good job as Jessica's older sister Sara, who throughout most of the film is far more into Chad than is Jessica. Abbie Cobb plays Sara's friend AJ. If imitation is really the sincerest form of flattery, then Kay Panabaker should feel real good these days; as Cobb joins Bridgit Mendler and Meaghan Jett Martin (who can successfully play a mean girl) as yet another of Disney's bleached out Panabaker wannabe clones.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

It struck me almost immediately while watching Starstruck that I'd seen this plot in an old movie, to be precise one that's almost 80 years older than this product from the Disney Studios.

Back in 1933 William Randolph Hearst produced a film for Marion Davies in which she played a star struck teacher of French in a girl's school who falls in love with a radio crooner. The crooner was none other than the biggest crooner of the day, Bing Crosby. So Marion goes off to Hollywood to meet her idol, in fact the name of the film was Going Hollywood.

Now I'm willing to bet that Sterling Knight and newcomer Danielle Campbell have no idea that they are stepping into roles originally created by Bing Crosby and Marion Davies. I really do think Going Hollywood was the inspiration for Starstruck.

Danielle is your average teen girl from Kalamazoo, Michigan crushing out on teen bubblegum idol Sterling Knight. Like Davies she goes cross country to meet her heartthrob. But Knight like most celebrities leads an insulated life, heavily insulated by the people who depend on him for a living including Knight's parents. The only one who gives him an occasional reality check is pal Brandon Mychal Smith, Knight's fellow cast member from Disney's Sonny With A Chance.

Chelsea Staub another Disney teen player from the Jonas series is in this as Knight's vapid and shallow Hollywood girlfriend. As for Sterling he's far from the self centered Chad Dylan Cooper from Sonny With A Chance. He's a decent soul inside, but that soul is way deep inside covered with layers of Hollywood tinsel.

There's been eighty years of change in musical taste and while I might not find the score here equal to what Bing sang and Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed composed, it's decent enough and I daresay with the marketing techniques of the Magic Kingdom will sell quite a few CDs.

Starstruck is easy enough to take, nothing terribly outstanding, but does show off its young cast to good advantage. Even Bing and Marion might be pleased.

Christopher Wilde is the prince of 2010 Disney (directly after Troy Bolton). Something about the sunshine paved the way for music as we know it. Songs that follows in SATS footsteps were, Shades, Hero and Starstruck. Iconic classics.

I have to say that I do like the plot of this movie. I thought it was different, it certainly isn't something I've seen before. However, This is clearly a made for TV kids movie. The script is cheesy (normal for Disney, though) and poorly directed. They just don't make it seem real. That seems to be one of Disney's biggest problems lately, they make these movies that are supposed to be inspirational or lesson learning for kids, but they're too unrealistic. This follows suit in the Disney portfolio.

I think it's worth watching once or twice but it's no masterpiece. If you like Disney, you'll like Starstruck. Even if you don't like Disney, you might find it mildly enjoyable.