Claire Danes and Charlie Cox in STARDUST (2007).
© Paramount Pictures
Mania Grade: B+
Maniac Grade: D+
Reviewed Format: Theatrical Release
Rated: PG-13
Stars: Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro
Writers: Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn, based on the novel by Neil Gaiman
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Maniac Grade: D+
Reviewed Format: Theatrical Release
Rated: PG-13
Stars: Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro
Writers: Jane Goldman & Matthew Vaughn, based on the novel by Neil Gaiman
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
STARDUST
By: Rachel ReitsleffReview Date: Friday, August 10, 2007
Neil Gaiman’s 1999 novel Stardust was a charming piece of fantasy fiction, told with just the right amount of contemporary humor sprinkled over a once-upon-a-time tale about a young lad from 19th-century England who journeys to an enchanted realm for one purpose and finds himself embarked on a quest with a surprising outcome.
In Victorian England, eighteen-year-old Tristan Thorn (Charlie Cox) learns from his father (Nathaniel Parker) that Tristan’s mother isn’t dead after all, but rather hails from the mystical land separated from Tristan’s village by a wall that nobody crosses (except for his father, once, eighteen years ago). Tristan sets out not, primarily, to seek his mother but rather to obtain a fallen star as a gift for the object of his affections (Sienna Miller). However, the star turns out not to be a big celestial rock, but rather a young woman called Yvaine (Claire Danes), who knows of human ways after watching Earth from the sky for centuries, but is still bitterly unhappy about being stuck down here. She’s not wild about the notion of being presented, however briefly, to Tristan’s lady friend. However, there also actual danger afoot – the witch Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer) wants to devour the star’s heart to restore her youth and power and some fratricidal princes seek the jewel Yvaine innocently carries.
Director Matthew Vaughn and his co-screenwriter Jane Goldman is largely true to both the spirit and the letter of Gaiman’s novel (Gaiman, one of the film’s producers, presumably had some input in keeping it that way). There is a good deal of puckishness that’s never overdone, even when Tristan and Yvaine encounter a pirate captain with a surprising agenda, played with unexpected sweetness by Robert De Niro. The magical world looks truly magical and intriguing, even though some of the CGI looks more like it was whipped up by a computer than by sorcery. A lot of the imagery is just delightful, though, with references to the illustrations Charles Vess did for the novel, as well as elements of films by Neil Jordan and Terry Gilliam.
Cox is exactly what we want a young but empathetic storybook hero to be, modest, capable, entertaining and highly watchable. Danes is appealing – the effects let her literally glow when her character is happy – and Pfeiffer gleefully deploys her inner witch here even better than in Hairspray. The cast also benefits from appearances by Ricky Gervais, Peter O’Toole and Rupert Everett, among many other fine actors. Ian McKellen provides the eminently suitable narration.
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