Stardust - mini-review

What would you get if you took LoTR, one of those Pirates movies, a Harry Potter flick and Witches of Eastwick, and put them all in a blender? You might get something similar to Neil Gaiman's Stardust. Gaiman has done a lovely job of presenting a fantasy world that probably 98% of the movie audience knows nothing about and making its mythology accessible [Ahem, M. Night? You taking notes?] and, in fact, I'm now quite interested in reading the novel from which the movie was adapted. The movie is quite gorgeous visually: costumes, locations (all over Great Britain and also in Iceland); the story has a lot of heart and is a much sweeter tale than fantasy fare of late. It does seem a little confused at times, though, unable to decide between wanting to be a serious quest film and or a funny one. It absolutely has lighthearted moments and I chuckled out loud a couple of time, but it's no Princess Bride.

Michelle Pfieffer gives the Wicked Witch of the West a run for her money in the competition for Best Movie Hag: she is stunning and hideous and scary, and clearly enjoying the heck out of this role. Young Charlie Cox does a fine job of carrying the film and Rupert Everett made me giggle each time he was on screen. I think Claire Danes may wish to try a movie where she doesn't have to do an English accent; she was fine but I found the accent incredibly distracting, just as I did in Stage Beauty. And it will be a long, long time before I purge the image of Robert DeNiro in a pink feather boa out of my head [shudder ... and hee!].