Starlet (film)
Starlet is a 2012 independent drama film directed by Sean Baker and starring Dree Hemingway and newcomer Besedka Johnson. "Starlet" explores the unlikely friendship between 21-year-old Jane and 85-year-old Sadie, two women whose lives intersect in California's San Fernando Valley. Plot. Jane, also known as Tess, is a young woman who shares an apartment rented by Melissa and her boyfriend Mikey. Jane has a Chihuahua named Starlet. Melissa tells Jane she cannot change the color of her room as she wishes because Mikey needs it for "shoots". Seeking change, Jane buys furniture  at neighborhood yard sales. At one such sale she comes across an old woman named Sadie, from whom she buys a Thermos. Back at her place, Jane discovers a stash of money in the Thermos. She spends some of it on extravagant luxuries, but decides to return the money to Sadie. The cranky older woman turns Jane away before she can explain. Despite Sadie's abrasiveness and resistance, Jane begins to form a friendship with her. She learns that the widow Sadie always loved Paris but has never been there. Melissa is fired from her job where she and Mikey  are adult film stars. Jane convinces their boss to suspend Melissa for a month instead. Jane gets a promotion. She begins to leave her dog Starlet with Sadie while at work. One day the dog gets loose and, although Sadie finds Starlet, she suggests ending the friendship with Jane. Jane still has most of the money she found in the Thermos. Melissa advises her to spend it on someone she cares about. Jane buys two first-class tickets to Paris for Sadie and her, but Sadie refuses to go, before eventually agreeing to go on the trip. When Melissa learns  that Jane spent all the money on Sadie, she is enraged. Melissa screams at Jane and kicks her out of the apartment. Later, Melissa tells Sadie about the stash of money. Sadie briefly unpacks her suitcase, but stops and gets ready to travel. Later, Jane, not knowing that Sadie has been told about the money, picks her up to go to the airport. Sadie asks Jane to stop at the cemetery to leave flowers on her husband's grave. Jane notices the nearby grave of Sadie's daughter. The older woman returns to the car, and the two drive away . Production. Sean Baker and Chris Bergoch collaborated on the screenplay for "Starlet" from November 2010 through summer 2011. "Starlet" began production in August 2011 and wrapped the following month. The film was shot entirely in Los Angeles. Music Box Films acquired domestic distribution rights to the film and released it on November 9, 2012. Release. "Starlet" premiered at the SXSW Film Festival on March 11, 2012 and had its international premiere in main competition at the Locarno International Film Festival in August 2012. Reception. Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that 87% of 45 surveyed critics gave the film a  positive review; the average rating was 7.3/10. Metacritic rated it 74/100 based on 18 reviews. Indiewire called "Starlet" a "provocative showcase for newcomer Dree Hemingway", and "Variety" called it "beautifully understated". "The Hollywood Reporter" added that it "pairs story and setting together perfectly". Movieline wrote that the film was "surprisingly sweet". Indiewire's blog The Playlist wrote that the film "signals the arrival of Dree Hemingway as one to watch". Manohla Dargis of "The New York Times" made it a "critic's pick" and described it as "a thrillingly, unexpectedly good American movie about love and a moral awakening". Accolades . The film won the Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award for Best Ensemble Cast at the 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards. Besedka Johnson received Special Jury Recognition at the South by Southwest Film Festival.