CrawlerChunky
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
Payno
I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Milan
"Star 80" is a powerful film, the story may be distasteful but it's true. Fosse's unique style of film making is used to full potential here, and it's really sad that he didn't make less musicals and more thriller/dramas because he does it best. No brains but lot's of emotions in both principal characters paved the way to their self destruction and this is the ultimate rise and fall story of any star that burned out on a jet propelled climb to success. No matter what's the cause, drinking, drugs legal or illegal, violence, the end is always the same. Fosse shows that brilliantly cross cutting from bunch of clips of Stratten and Snider's past, in which the seeds of their volatile relationship are planted, to grow an ugly plant, fertilized on Snider's frustrations, fueling his anger that drowned them both in his whirlpool of self pity."Star 80" is along with "Lenny" the best of Bob Fosse's short but brilliant career.It surely deserves a better DVD transfer than it's 1998 Snap Case, Pan & Scan , 1.33:1, widescreen grainy look. Worth of repeated seeing.
kellyadmirer
Some films are light and breezy. Others are full of explosions and booming sound effects. Still others are romantic and dreamy.This isn't any of those kinds of films. From the very start, the film makes clear that this is a tragic story - true story - of need and manipulation with an ending that was almost inevitable. It is more a character study than anything else, at how taking people out of their element can change them, either by raising them up or by destroying them. Both of which happen here."Star 80" works because it has two fantastic performances at its core. Eric Roberts just dazzles as small-time hustler Paul Snider, who stumbles on a gorgeous small-town girl played by Mariel Hemingway and manages to transform her into a major celebrity (Playboy Playmate and neophyte actress Dorothy Stratten). Roberts was wonderful at this stage of his career, and he draws you into his character to the point where you understand him and his crazy actions. Just about anybody can empathize with some part of the twisted Snider-Stratten story, despite the bizarre antics of Snider.Hemingway, with her brilliant "aw, shucks" performance, shows how being too passive can draw out the worst in certain people. Which is not to pin any blame on Stratten - the story shows that her only error was to trust Snider for too long.It would be easy to write Snider off as simply a cold-blooded killer with no redeeming qualities, but this film rises above that. Snider is a snake and ultimately a killer, but he's also a man who on his own dime builds an elaborate cage for a friend's dog. Snider winds up pining for Stratten - perhaps she was more than just a meal ticket to him? But Roberts also conveys the torment of a man who managed his protégé to stardom, only to face the bitter reality that it is her success, not his. A lover cast aside, to be left with nothing while he thinks she is ascending the golden steps of fame without him - yes, we come to understand Snider's motivations very well. It's a fascinating role reversal, for the stereotype is of the successful man casting his wife aside for something better - and here we have the opposite. No matter how loathsome Snider may be, and how much he may have deserved getting dumped, that is the underlying tale here. The tragedy lies in how he deals with it.It's difficult to find fault with this film, but I will say that the role of Stratten's mother, played by Carrol Baker, seems a bit false. The part as written has all the earmarks of 20-20 hindsight, and that goes for the roles of the brother and Hugh Hefner, too (why Hefner sued about his characterization is beyond me, he comes off probably better than anyone else in the film). If Stratten's mother really had tremendous misgivings about her daughter going off to LA to live with Snider, why did she sign the necessary papers? And why aren't we shown any scenes of momma visiting her daughter, or even calling her - what did she do, sign away her right to be her mother, too? And did Dorothy even HAVE a father? Maybe a little parental influence could have helped matters. No, the film is a little thin there, which is understandable but leaves some lingering questions.A fantastic film showing the sleazy and sometimes tragic side of "success." For mature audiences only.
Noir-It-All
This story of Dorothy Stratten's end was a symbol of the end of the 70's ideal of the innocence of snorting coke and partying incessantly. I couldn't help but be reminded how Brian Jones's end and the subsequent tragic concert at Altamont heralded the end of the Peace and Love Generation of the 60's. (Wouldn't you know both were sweet, talented and ethereal Pisces People, known by all to this day!) People embraced both ideals, but inevitably, were quashed by people on a different drug or of a different psychosis. Hugh Hefner was portrayed as a survivor, someone who could reap the benefits of his lifestyle because he was in control (just like Mick Jagger?) There was a line drawn between Hefner, dream-weaver/businessman, and Paul Snyder, psychotic/hustler, and Heffner saw it instantly. This impressed me though I don't like the man. His henchman was on the same page as his King, intercepting Snyder's calls to the Mansion. This movie could have been merely sensational but the script, direction, look and editing, not to mention the acting, were top-drawer and made their point well.
JasparLamarCrabb
STAR 80 is Bob Fosse's stunning, no holds barred account of the life and death of playmate Dorothy Stratten and her husband Paul Snider. It features a career making performance by Eric Roberts. As Snider, Roberts is electrifying. He's the most sadistic screen villain since Richard Widmark in KISS OF DEATH. Mariel Hemingway is fine as Stratten, a would be actress who had an affair with the director Peter Bogdanovich. Unfortunately she's dwarfed by Roberts. So are the supporting players: Roger Rees as a very Bogdanovich-like director, Carroll Baker as Stratten's mother, and Cliff Robertson as Hugh Hefner. Director Fosse utilizes the same interview like technique he used on LENNY and it works just as well here --- Baker is particularly good and has a number of heartfelt moments. STAR 80 is flashy, fast paced and not to be missed!POSTSCRIPT: It turned out that Roberts would play the majority of his roles as he did Paul Snider. In movies like THE POPE OF GREENWICH VILLAGE and RUNAWAY TRAIN it was appropriate. In more subtle fare like RAGGEDY MAN it wasn't. Go figure!
