A Stardust Melody

Rating: 10/10 (29 August 2007)

My stardust melody, The memory of love's refrain.
Stardust, Lyrics by Mitchell Parish, Music by Hoagy Carmichael
No, this is not about Stardust, the song, but Stardust, the movie. I have implicitly criticized movies based on comic strips, then modified that somewhat saying that we would be seeing Stardust after all, when I realized that a "graphic novel" could be much more than a simple comic strip. This film is far better than that, and far better than I had imagined.
Imagination is the key word. The film is the best new one I've seen in a theater in months, and definitely the most imaginative one I've seen in years. Yes, large parts of it are derivative, but being derived from something else is not important. It is what the film maker does with those that determines the worth of the film. That the director/writer Matthew Vaughn and co-writer Jane Goldman have accomplished gloriously.
What is the film? It is funny, romantic and adventurous. It has a classic quest plot line, with as unlikely a collection of characters not merely than one could imagine (that word again), but would scarcely ever dream of imagining. The hero (Charlie Cox  totally unknown to me) morphs from a teen-age jerk into a romance novel hero (your typical handsome prince, in my wife's phrase). Most attention has been given to Robert De Niro's way-over-the-top performance, and well it should be. It was the only aspect of the film about which I harbored a reservation prior to seeing it, a reservation which turned out to be totally unjustified. De Niro, in a relatively brief appearance, is incredible! And his famous scene (think of John Hurt as Caligula in I Claudius) is absolutely integral to the plot (which I am not about to give away).
But it is Michelle Pfeiffer as an ugly old witch (now there's casting against type for you!) who really chews up the scenery, especially at the end. The movie has villains galore, and did I mention humor? It has plenty of one-liners for the adults. My own favorite was the punch line that followed "A two-headed dog? I could get that for you." I'm not giving that one away either.
Beyond any possible argument, the star of the film is the relatively little known Claire Danes. She plays a strong woman who is also vulnerable, totally human while simultaneously being much more than human. As made up for the movie, she is not conventionally pretty, but she has a magnetic inner beauty and gives a luminescent, shining performance that makes her the most unforgettable person in the film.
Who is the film aimed at? Well, not young children  too much violence (even if cartoonish) and probably a bit too much very-off-screen implied sex. And it is not aimed at anyone for whom the magic of movies no longer holds any attraction, or sadly never did.
Stardust has not yet received either the acclaim or the audience it so richly merits. But it is, both figuratively and literally a gem. As I was watching it, I was mentally rating it at a very strong 9. But by the end, it was a clear 10. I recommend it most highly.