by Frank Calvillo
Box Office Alternative Column
Box Office Alternative is a weekly look into additional/optional choices to the big-budget spectacle opening up at your local movie theater every Friday. Oftentimes, titles will consist of little-known or underappreciated work from the same actor/writer/director/producer of said new release, while at other times, the selection for the week just happens to touch upon the same subject in a unique way. Above all, this is a place to revisit and/or discover forgotten cinematic gems of all kinds.
The Brothers Grimsby, Sacha Baron Cohen’s latest cinematic offering of offbeat comedy, comes out this week and sees him playing an average Joe who reunites with his long-lost twin brother played by Mark Strong for an action-packed escapade featuring lots of gunplay and plenty of dark humor.
The film should surely give Strong the chance to once again exercise his considerable gifts as one of the top straight men working in films today. It’s a talent which Strong first got the chance to show appearing the enchanting, all star fantasy tale Stardust.
Based on the beloved novel by sci-fi/fantasy great Neil Gaiman, Stardust follows good-natured shop boy Tristan Thorn (Charlie Cox) as he professes his love over champagne and candlelight for the lovely, yet shallow Victoria (Sienna Miller). At the same time, the dying king (Peter O’Toole) of the neighboring magical kingdom known as Stormhold proclaims that only the heir which possesses a special stone may take his place. The stone in question has just been launched into the sky where it knocks down a star in human form named Yvaine (Claire Danes). It isn’t long before multiple parties become obsessed with hunting down Yvaine, including Tristan, who plans to give the fallen star as a birthday present to Victoria; two princes (Jason Flemying and Strong), who are both set on recovering the stone in order to become king; and the witch queen of the land known as Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer), who intends to cut out Yvaine’s heart in effort to achieve eternal youth.
One of the reasons Stardust is so hard to categorize is because it truly is a hybrid of a film. The movie simultaneously juggles a number of different genres and does so brilliantly. There’s the ongoing theme of romance which develops between Tristan and Yvaine, which is never saccharine, but rather honest, and a true joy to watch develop. The romance is greatly balanced by loads of stellar comedy, which each member of the cast takes part in at one point or another. However, none garner more laughs than Ricky Gervais as a shady shopkeeper and Robert DeNiro as Captain Shakespeare, a playful pirate who sails his ship through the air capturing lightning. Above all though, Stardust is a fantasy film, and elements of fantasy it does indeed possess. The movie has enough witchery, spells, transformations, magical creatures, and mythical laws that rival similar classics such as Labyrinth and The Princess Bride, while managing to stand out as its own charming and instantly enjoyable entity.
Most importantly, although Stardust is a fairy tale, it should be pointed out that it’s an ADULT fairy tale with plenty of grown-up themes going on. Some are more traditional, such as the idea of brothers murdering each other to succeed as ruler of a kingdom, while others, such as Captain Shakespeare’s closeted homosexuality and Lamia’s quest to literally kill another being in an effort to retain her youthful beauty, are all heightened themes, which are rooted in grown up, modern day ideology. As a result of this, Stardust proves a film more for parents who gravitated towards these movies as kids, but who now take their own children to see while they sit trying not to fall asleep. The filmmakers, in particular director Matthew Vaughn, acknowledge these people and have made a film for adults who cherished similar adventures when they were younger by crafting a story which appeals to their mature sensibilities, as well as their love for escapist fantasy.
It’s obvious that every member of the cast was as taken with the material as those who embraced it. Each performer is truly having fun with their roles, with several specific highlights among the varied ensemble. Cox gives Tristan enough strength to overcome the character’s more bumbling features, while Danes wisely peels away the layers of Yvaine’s snobbish star to unveil a loveliness and vulnerability. Strong holds his own and garners laughs opposite heavyweights such as Gervais and DeNiro, with the latter enjoying his most fun role in recent times. Finally Pfeiffer makes Lamia the perfect villain and fool with a coldness towards her victims that’s matched by a hilariously tragic series of attempts to hold onto her youth.
Stardust may well have been one of the hardest films of the year to market. Indeed even its somewhat busy trailer seemed intent on appealing to every kind of moviegoer imaginable, while its overall marketing push fell flat. As a result, audiences stayed away, despite the film’s near-unanimous praise from critics. The film found great success overseas, however, and the Phoenix Film Critics Association even named Stardust as the most overlooked film of the year.
Time has been good to Stardust. Its reputation and number of fans continue to grow every year, officially launching the film into beloved cult classic status. Even the most diehard of Gaiman’s fans seem to be totally in love with the film, despite the fact that it strays from its source novel at practically every turn. And yet perhaps the reason nobody minds this fact is because the story’s core sensibilities of fantasy and escape remain in tact. In short, Stardust is the kind of film that gives people something to dream about.
