Stardom

IMDb RATING

5.6/10

1.9K

YOUR RATING

Play trailer1:41

1 Video

34 Photos

Dark Comedy Comedy Drama

A young girl is plucked from small-town obscurity and thrust into the spotlight of the glamorous world of super-models.A young girl is plucked from small-town obscurity and thrust into the spotlight of the glamorous world of super-models.A young girl is plucked from small-town obscurity and thrust into the spotlight of the glamorous world of super-models.

Director
- Denys Arcand
Writers
- Denys Arcand
- Jacob Potashnik
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.6/10

1.9K

YOUR RATING

Director
- Denys Arcand
Writers
- Denys Arcand
- Jacob Potashnik
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 wins & 7 nominations total

Videos1

Trailer 1:41

Stardom

Photos33

+ 27

User reviews28

5.61.8K

Featured reviews

sfbearcop

Biting satire with a beautiful face

In the vein of "This is Spinal Tap" and the other mocumentary films out there, "Stardom" manages to take shots at almost every aspect of celebrity, Canadian-ness, high-fashion and a lot more. I found this one while looking for something to watch on a slow Friday night, "Third Watch" having gone on summer hiatus. I have always liked Akroyd and the plot looked like fun. Of course, had I seen a picture of Jessica Paré, I wouldn't have needed anything more. She looks very much like Liv Tyler, minus the famous and luscious Tyler lips. Paré's character, Tina Menzhal, is the epitome of a beautiful tomboy -- yeah, as one viewer said she looks too pretty to be a trade-school hockey player; she has all her teeth -- but anomalies do exist.

There are some slow moments, but the movie mostly moves along well, blending the footage shot by the obsessive film maker, (played so well by Robert Lepage) -- mostly in B&W -- with stuff from other points of view. It isn't a deep character study -- although we do get to see a bit of what goes into some of the main characters -- but it is a very funny movie. I won't spoil it, but Frank Langella has one scene which represents what a lot of people might want to say, and I bet he enjoyed it. He, Akroyd, Gibson and the other supporting actors do great work. In fact it is some of the best work I've seen Akroyd do since the high days of SNL.

I've never seen Denys Arcand's work before -- and understand this is atypical -- but don't think he has anything to be ashamed of. This is a well made, biting but very funny satire of fame, the media and life in our modern world. Highly recommended at 7.5 out of 10. Really.

Clever Jones

A genuine head-scratcher

So...here's the story. As a montrealer and as a Canadian, I'm constantly pushing myself to see some Canadian films. Problem is, there aren't any. Sure, you've got Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter and and The Red Violin, but..uh...other than that, not so much.

Ahhhh....but wait! Here's Stardom. And Gosh, it stars just about every montreal actor there is! And Gee! It's directed by Denys Arcand-why he's just fantastic. Perhaps I should see it.

So I did. About a week ago. And I'm still scratching my head. What the heck is this movie? I can't figure it out for the life of me. Jessica Pare is pretty good as Tina. She embodies the role, and does it gracefully. Dan Ackroyd and Frank Langella are also pretty good too. I've never seen Ackroyd like this before, he's very impressive. The overall film is not easy to classify or understand. I guess it's a satire of the media and I guess it's all about fame and celebrities, but gosh darn...I just don't know...

Listen: Go check it out. It's at least cool to see Montreal double for practically every other city in the world.

8max von meyerling

A portrait of an idiotic society which finds and discards superficial heroes

Really an excellent little film, it reads like an update of DARLING in that it details the vacuous inner life of a young woman whose physical appearance is her only quality but one which take her around the world as a successful model and to the very pinnacle of her profession. However it is something of a cautionary tale as her inner vacuousness means she can never appreciate what she has or analyze how she got it. Because of her looks and success and fame no one ever stops to ask her. She is a moral imbecile but that too goes unremarked upon because everybody else in her world is one too and the only thing that is noticed about a human personality is material success i.e. either you're a winner or a loser.

The ending is perfect as it plays far more realistically than the comeuppance of Darling where the heroine has achieved the status of a princess but yet she is deathly bored. The heroine of STARDOM doesn't even have that ability to self reflect. While STARDOM plays less bitterly than DARLING because it is less a poison portrait of a manipulating bitch than social criticism, a presentation of an idiotic society which finds and discards superficial heroes, the more blank the better, as a matter of course. If the heroine of STARDOM actually had an intellect, or a central nervous system, she might be regarded as a victim but she seems to have less self awareness than the replicantes of BLADE RUNNER. The ending is chilling for the more sentient audience members, others will be puzzled by what the big deal is at an apparent happy ending.

These are the people who are indirectly being criticized in STARDOM.

plbrooks

Worth It

The movie is quite clever and pops along very quickly, making it an easy 'watch'. The great looking Jessica Pare does an excellent job playing the rags to riches to rags supermodel Tina Menzhal, and Dan Aykroyd plays a resturant tycoon who loses everything in his pursuit of Tina. I thought this movie was very funny and fun to watch. Nothing too heavy or groundbreaking, just good clean fun. 7 of 10.

8dvanhouwelingen

A good satire of modern life!

Denys Arcand's new film STARDOM is a very funny satire of the celebrity obsessed times we live in. Jessica Pare plays Tina Menzhal, a girl from Cornwall, Ontario who becomes a supermodel. Along the way we see how the media reacts to her and her relationships. The film is funny throughout with wonderful supporting work from Dan Aykroyd, Frank Langhella and Thomas Gibson. Although Arcand goes too far sometimes, the film is overall and excellent satire of modern life.

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
The majority of shots of Jessica Paré are broadcast or reflected images: she is seen in video clips, on the monitor of cameras, reflected in mirrors, glimpsed through glass, or in still photos, but rarely directly.

Goofs
During Tina's first fashion show, the "Victoria's Secret" lettering can be seen against the backdrop of the curtain as the models begin to walk towards the stage.

Quotes
Montreal Talk-Show Host: [leaving his guest stranded to fend for himself as he comes down to interview girlfriend] Hello?
[in French, causing a deer-in-the-headlights startled look from her]
Montreal Talk-Show Host: What? Pussycat got your tongue?
Tina Menzhal: [uncomfortably] I'm sorry, I don't speak French.
Montreal Talk-Show Host: [in her language now:] Nobody's perfect. But I think you are very close.
[audience loves this]
Montreal Talk-Show Host: I saw you coming in with this guy. Is he your boyfriend?
Tina Menzhal: I can't talk.
Montreal Talk-Show Host: [in French, to audience:] She can't talk. The plot thickens, let's unravel this mystery.
[leads panicking girl to the stage, clowning along the way]
Montreal Talk-Show Host: Why don't you have a seat? Merci.
[to his abandoned guest, in French:]
Montreal Talk-Show Host: Okay, Philippe, that monologue must have exhausted you. Go sit in my chair, it's much more comfortable.
[in effect, shooing him out of the way, with the pretty girl all to himself]
Montreal Talk-Show Host: Go. Thanks.
[to her:]
Montreal Talk-Show Host: So, are you ashamed of this man? Is there a dark secret you wish to share with us?
Tina Menzhal: Well, I'm not supposed to be seen with him.
Montreal Talk-Show Host: Why? Because he is too old for you?
Philippe Gascon: [in French:] Thanks a lot!
Montreal Talk-Show Host: [in French:] Don't mention it!
Tina Menzhal: Well, it's like, if other photographers knew I was with him, they wouldn't hire me.
Montreal Talk-Show Host: We won't tell.
Tina Menzhal: Yeah, right. Now the whole world knows.
[gesturing at Philippe]
Tina Menzhal: Look at him. He's laughing. I'm toast. They're gonna send me back to Cornwall, thank you very much.
Philippe Gascon: Come on, you're going to Paris.
Montreal Talk-Show Host: Paris? Paris, France? My God. But, you don't speak French.
Tina Menzhal: I know a few words.
Montreal Talk-Show Host: Say one.
Tina Menzhal: [delightfully naïve] I can't. They're all dirty words, I think.
Montreal Talk-Show Host: [in French, to Philippe:] You taught her smut?
Philippe Gascon: [in French, laughing:] You gotta start somewhere.
Montreal Talk-Show Host: [in French:] You pervert.
Tina Menzhal: I know this one... Vicieuse. He likes it when I am vicieuse, or...
[tries in French:]
Tina Menzhal: And also, 'slut.'
Montreal Talk-Show Host: [in French, theatrical, to audience, who is lapping it up:] Is it me, or is it really getting hot in here? I'm gonna pass out. I need some water. Be right with you.
[drinks from glass, she looks at him, butter won't melt in her mouth, audience loves this]
Montreal Talk-Show Host: Do you know some other words?
[audience laughter grows]
Montreal Talk-Show Host: Please speak French to me!

Connections
Featured in Best! Movies! Ever!: Fashion (2007)

Soundtracks
Drinking Song
Taken from "Carnaval De Venise"
Written by Giuseppe Verdi
Arranged by André Rieu and J. Huijts
Performed by André Rieu
© 1995 Mercury BV (The Netherlands)
Courtesy of Universal Music France
By Arrangement with Universal Music Special Projects
© Polygram Music Publishing B.V.