Star Dust

It's an all-out movie fest for me, lately. Kicking off with the tense and darkly satisfying 30 Days of Night (my review of which you can find in the blog archives), I followed up with Star Dust.

This is the fairy tale fantasy based on the book of the same name by Terry Gilliam.

I'll be honest, I wasn't that motivated to go and see this movie at the cinema (consigning it to my 'must rent on DVD' pile in my head), but I was outvoted by Louise (the missus) and our friends, Mike and Laura. Expectations suitably lowered, I settled in for a couple of hours of mediocre entertainment. Let's just say I was pleasantly surprised.

What you've got with Star Dust is a nice old-fashioned fairy tale, with some decent jokes and the odd flutter of aspirant epic fantasy-hood. At times, buoyed by a rousing and dramatic soundtrack with some stunning scenery, Star Dust borders on the magnificent, only to return to the more Brother's Grimm-esque (I'm referring to the actual fair tales here - not the Walt Disney ones by the way - and not the diabolical movie of the same name) comfort zone established in its colourful opening.

The story is a simple one, as befits the somewhat parochial fantasy milieu; our young hero, Tristran Thorne (Charlie Cox), hoping to win the heart of his true love, Victoria (Sienna Miller), goes on a quest beyond 'The Wall' (effectively, the prosaic inter-dimensional gate between 'England' and the fantasy world of 'Stormhold') to claim a falling star for his beloved. Various complications are thrown into his path in the form of Lamia (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) a witch hellbent of getting the star for herself in order to prolong her unnatural youth and Septimus (played by Mark Strong), an evil prince desperately seeking an amulet in the star's possession that will guarantee his ascension to the throne to become king of all 'Stormhold'. Chief amongst all of these 'distractions' is the fact that the falling star actually comes in the form of a beautiful girl, Yvaine (played by Claire Danes) and, low and behold, Tristran, throughout the course of the film, discovers that it is not Victoria he truly loves (as she does return his feelings, but is a tad more materialistic) but Yvaine. There are a good spattering of chase scenes, witty banter and one-liners and the odd sword fight to keep the interest going (there's a veritable 'who's who' of British comedians in the form of Septimus's ghostly brothers that occasionally steal the show - Mark Williams as the man-goat, Billy, is also worthy of a mention). It's a kind of paint by the numbers, coming of age story that has shades of Time Bandits about it.

Hats go off to a stellar cast with notable performances by Michelle Pfeiffer as the evil witch Lamia but props to Robert DeNiro as the 'fruity' Captain Shakespeare (let's just say you'll never watch Raging Bull or Taxi Driver in the same way again...). There are also some great cameos from Peter O'Toole and Ricky Gervais (who pretty much acts like himself, but is amusing none-the-less) and Dexter Fletcher. Sir Ian McKellen is wonderful as the narrator, too.

Star Dust is a lot of fun with a nice tone that'll please most cinema goers. It's not exactly rip-roaring epic material, nor it is laugh out loud hilarious, but it's a nice, feel good movie and a welcome, pleasant distraction. Recommended.