Childstar

This movie is pretty funny. It's absurd in many ways, but also very funny. It dosn't do anything that new, but the jokes are all good and the characters make me chuckle (aside from when I want to slap them).

The plot of the movie they are making within the film should be noted, that is, the (fictional) president getting captured by terrorists and his little rascal son taking over and rescuing his dad made me roll on the floor laughing. At least until I realized that someone probably was going to actually make a movie like that, which is BAD.

The characters are all funny, though as I said before, I often wanted to slap them. The bratty child-star is annoying, and the apparent sympathy towards them gets annoying.

Also, the characters act ridiculously. Why would the actress-model actually want a long term relationship with that little idiot....I mean the kid was 12 for crying out loud! This bugged me a lot. Oh, and the artsy director-legal guardian actually putting up with the child-star and his mom.

I just couldn't get into this. Don McKellar, who I've never heard of before, just looked like he was doing an impersonation of Peter Sellers. His deadpan approach was a leaden hand over the whole film. Every line he delivered fell flat on the ground, as in a vacuum. There was something eerily compelling about him though, I couldn't take my eyes off him - or maybe it was just that cardigan he wore under his jacket the whole time.

The storyline might have not invited criticism were it not for the fact that we were subjected to two excruciating moral lessons at the end (on parentalism and on the childstar issue). Mmm, thanks, I so need to be preached at - NOT.

Unfortunately, Taylor Brandon Burns wasdislikable even when he wasn't supposed to be, and his blonde girlfriend character was just a cardboard cut-out. How were we supposed to care?

Well, we were all probably there looking for laughs, not philosophy. Problem is the laughs just weren't there. It was all vaguely depressing.

THis movie was comic genius, and is my favorite Canadian movie ever, Finally someone has made a film that manages to be thoughtful and funny at the same time. All of my friends loved it too, though some of them thought the ending was a bit incomplete. I disagree! It was fun, and touching, and never schlocky or stupid. And Don McKellar is hilarious! In fact, most of the actors were great, including the young boy (I forget his name) who plays the kid. I guess, as a Canadian, the film makes more sense. I hope Don Mckellar keeps making strange films like this and Last Night (his first one) because no one else is doing anything this interesting AND accessible, with the possible exception of Guy Maddin's last movie.

Famous 12 year old TV star Taylor Brandon Burns arrives in Toronto with his manager mom Suzanne Burnbaum (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to do a big budget bombastic movie. Rick Shiller (Don McKellar) is the struggling indie filmmaker turned reluctant driver. Taylor is under tremendous pressure struggling to grow up in a grown up world. Suzanne is useless and having a fling with Rick. When Taylor goes missing with struggling actress Natalie, Rick has to go find him.

This actually got interesting. The most interesting is Taylor running away with Natalie. The movie needs to be about that. The other parts should be trimmed back. McKellar should really get out of the way of his own movie. It should not be his movie. It should be about the kid. It's risky to bet the whole project on a child actor but this kid has the skills to pull it off.

The moviemaking within the movie has one great section with Taylor in the fake cockpit. The fake CGI is a big mistake. The movie does not need it and it looks really fake. The only way to save that is to make sure that the audience knows the footage is rudimentary test footage. The main problem with that is the audience is unlikely to be smart enough to get it. All in all, I really like the kid's performance and his struggles.

Don Mckellar is a comic genius, as long as dry wit with an accent is your kind of laugh-a-thon. It is mine, so I loved this movie.

Mckellar plays an endearing character who has just divorced the love of his life, for whom he has shot an independent film which has no backing as his on film love letter equates romantic love to ADHD images erratically juxtaposed against the nature. Since he has to put peanut butter on his bread, he begins working as a driver for a film being shot in his hometown. Thus, Mckellar's character meets 12 year old Taylor Bradford Burns, a teenage star whose fame is hanging on his ability to maintain "adorableness as a child" and thus, his film company and agents are pushing him to do another film whether it's worth doing or not (which is certainly debatable) before his "voice changes".

Jennifer Jason Leigh is exquisite as always in her cooler than ever way, as the mother of the child. She's just looking to "take care of Taylor" the best way she knows how - which includes getting him the largest salary possible, living in the poshest house the studio will foot the bill for, and ensuring that he has "a male role model" by turning her responsibilities over to the first available and passably attractive guy she runs into --- who is of course, our newbie driver.

It's a fun movie. Taylor Bradford Burns is played by a young man who is straddling the line between youth and a teenager with more experience than anyone under 18 should have. Worth renting. Enjoy it with popcorn.