Childstar

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Childstar

39% Liked It
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Childstar

Alan Thicke, Bob Martin, Brendan Fehr, Dave Foley, Don McKellar, Eric Stoltz, Gil Bellows, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kristin Adams, Mark Rendall, Michael Murphy, Noam Jenkins, Peter Paige

Billed as an eccentric, funny film, this award-winning Canadian import from director/actor Don McKellar (eXistanZ, The Red Violin) is more drama than comedy; a multi-layered, provocative...( read more  read more... ) satire of the movie industry and its self-serving exploitation of child celebrities. Childstar is the story of Taylor Brandon Burns (Mark Rendall), a spoiled 12-year-old American megastar and his self-absorbed mother, Suzanne (Jennifer Jason Leigh), together in Canada while Taylor films a big budget movie. Shockingly insolent on the exterior, Taylor struggles with conflicting emotions of anger and apathy and, at the point of despair, runs away with a prostitute. Enter Rick Schiller (Don McKellar), a hapless indie filmmaker picking up a paycheck as Taylor's limo-driver who is now enlisted to find the boy before he destroys himself. With camera in hand, Rick can't help but see Taylor's life as a movie while he attempts to engage Taylor as a friend. Perhaps intentionally, this movie-about-a-movie-about-a-movie eschews a single raison d'être in favor of many. At times wry, it is also a sobering statement on America's celebrity culture. Most notable is the film's cinematography--artsy, innovative, and, at times, disturbing. With standout performances by McKellar and Leigh, viewers can't miss the message on child stars explicit in the script: "When they hit puberty, we chew them up and spit them out; they spend the rest of their lives entertaining us in the tabloids." Rated R for extreme language and sexual content. --Lynn Gibson

Id: 10892668

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Recent Reviews

Childstar Recent Reviews
  • moviesarefun
    March 25, 2009
    moviesarefun
    The acting isn't always spot on, but the movie takes on a risky plot and succeeds for the most part.
  • blackeyedsurfer
    August 4, 2008
    blackeyedsurfer
    A great satire on filmmaking, celebrity culture, and Canadian/American relations. Simultaneously humourous and poignant. Mark Rendall is a rare truly gifted young actor. Great cast all-around.
  • robinh4
    August 21, 2007
    robinh4
    A terrible movie. It was totally pointless. I am usually very open minded about movies, but this movie was just awful. I wouldn't recommend this movie to anybody. Trust me, you won't like it.
  • ds093
    June 19, 2007
    ds093
    Interesting film about an amateur Canadian filmmaker who makes his living driving a limo and who before he realizes it, he is appointed guardian of a snotty little brat of childstar by the kids mother, who doesn't want to spend her required time on her son's set. Don McKellar se...( read more)ems to have done a pretty good job in the dual role of director and lead (who's also a director). Mark Rendall brought just the right amount of subtle, underlying sensitivity to his character's bratty, spoiled nature, while at heart just wanting some normalcy in his young life.
  • chainsawfodder
    May 13, 2007
    chainsawfodder
    I have been a fan of Canadian actor Don McKellar since I first saw "Highway 61" and I thought that his previous feature as a director, "Last Night" was brilliant. Although "Childstar" was not quite on the same level as that film, it still had McKellar's somewhat cynical humour a...( read more)imed at the Canadian film industry and how Americans view it. There were some funny moments but I felt sometimes that the movie was trying to reign itself in to have a more mainstream appeal where I would rather have seen McKellar just let loose. Brendan Fehr was great as a troubled ex-child actor.
  • kingmob6
    April 4, 2007
    kingmob6
    Though it has its humorous moments, this film has more of a dramatic edge to it as the titular character struggles with his fame and trying to be a child.
  • Freemind2pointo
    February 2, 2007
    Freemind2pointo
    this was one of those movies that you just have to laugh. Very enjoyable.
  • zeiko18
    January 9, 2007
    zeiko18
    Not as good McKellar's Last Night, but interesting.
  • SRamsie
    December 4, 2006
    SRamsie
    Very engaging, warm and quite humorous at times. I couldn't help but think of the young protagonist as a parody of McCauley Caulkin. A good time.
  • SarahJoyFrost
    December 3, 2006
    SarahJoyFrost
    I would like to see this, i think...
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