Lighthearted, pleasant for an early night

Rating: 7/10 (13 August 2009)

This is a very lighthearted film. Pleasant for an early weeknight.
The characters were all charming, and I liked that it had all the fine elements of a good myth: metaphorical characters with a neatly wrapped up ending. I especially enjoyed the goat-man. Very funny, not unlike Peter Pettigrew of Harry Potter without the eeriness.
The chorus of ghosts is a pleasant device that balances out several gruesome on screen deaths. In fact, their banter was very funny. Pushes the appropriate age limit up a bit -- young kids might be disturbed by the killing.
Plenty of silly laughs come from seeing characters like De Niro and Ricky Gervais out of character. Their haggling scene is one of the funniest, snappiest pieces of acting that I've seen. Gives Monty Python in the Life of Brian a run for its money.
In fantasy tales it can become annoying when magical characters run amok without any real parameters, casting spells at whim or manipulating the elements. I usually find such stories to be the result of lazy writing. Stardust pushes the limits in this respect, but manages to stave off total absurdity.
Sit back, relax and enjoy the show.
--dejiridoo