‘Stardust’ sprinkles late summer with solid fairy tale
By Ben Saylor
Insights
Published Aug. 15, 2007

Leave it to the month of August – a time traditionally considered a dumping ground for summer movies – to bring the season’s most interesting films; first the very good “The Bourne Ultimatum,” now “Stardust,” an enjoyable, albeit flawed, film filled with adventure, humor and romance.

Based on a novel written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Charles Vess, “Stardust” begins in an English village called Wall, so named for a barrier that separates it from a magical land called Stormhold. A gap in the wall is guarded to prevent curious villagers from venturing into the kingdom. However, one villager, Dunstan (Ben Barnes, played as an older man by Nathaniel Parker), manages to make it through the wall and has a quick roll in the hay with a beautiful witch’s slave (Kate Magowan). Nine months later, a surprise is left on Dunstan’s doorstep. The child grows up to be Tristan Thorn (Charlie Cox), a shop-boy with aspirations of adventure and the love of town beauty Victoria Forester (Sienna Miller).

However, Victoria is not easily won. But when the pair observe a falling star, Victoria promises to marry Tristan if he brings it back to her within a week. The smitten, impetuous lad immediately sets off to retrieve the star.

Claire Danes and Charlie Cox are Yvaine and Tristan in “Stardust.” The film largely takes place in a fictional land called Stormhold.

Unfortunately, Tristan is not the only one with an interest in the star. It seems that a star’s heart can keep its possessor young, which makes it a hot commodity for the evil, aging witch Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer) and her two sisters. If that wasn’t enough, the star was brought down from the sky by a ruby that was placed there by the dying king of Stormhold (Peter O’Toole). It seems that whichever of his surviving sons (several of them killed each other) can retrieve the ruby will be the heir to the throne. The dead brothers look on the proceedings as black and white ghosts, offering amusing commentary to the events happening onscreen.

Not knowing any of this, Tristan locates the star, and finds, to his surprise that 1.) The star is a beautiful woman named Yvaine (Claire Danes), and

2.) She’s not very happy to meet him, especially after he wraps a magic chain around her and tells her she’s a present for the woman of his dreams.

Yvaine continually bristles at Tristan during their travels until the star learns of the danger she’s in, leading the two to work together to make it back to Wall safely. Through their adventures, Yvaine comes to realize that Tristan isn’t so bad, and Tristan begins to reconsider his love for Victoria, all leading up to a, well, fairy tale ending.

Overall, while there aren’t that many surprises in “Stardust,” and despite its similarity in tone and approach to the much-loved “The Princess Bride,” this is still a fun film thanks to a fast-paced story and an excellent cast.

Director Matthew Vaughn, who co-adapted Gaiman’s work with Jane Goldman, earns high marks for doing a  (mostly) good job of keeping this multi-faceted story from getting out of control. Vaughn’s previous film was the convoluted “Layer Cake,” a gangster flick that owed too much of a debt to the overrated crime yarns of Guy Ritchie, which Vaughn used to produce. Vaughn seems to have learned his lesson after the overstuffed “Layer Cake,” even if he does take too long to wrap things up at the end of this one.

Like “Layer Cake,” Vaughn has some first-rate actors to help make this film work. Cox is perfect as the initially awkward hero and makes a believable (albeit swift) transition to a swashbuckling man of action. Danes, who has been knocked around a lot lately by critics (mainly for her other summer film, the dreadful “Evening”), is quite good in this role, utilizing a very convincing English accent. Her character doesn’t seem to act quite as nasty to Tristan when they first meet as she does in the book, which helps make her change of heart toward him more convincing. The two have a good chemistry, and it was enjoyable to watch their romance blossom.

Pfeiffer notches another successful screen villain role this summer, following her scheming radio station manager Velma Von Tussle in “Hairspray.” The makeup folks do some impressive work making her into an old crone as she ages rapidly; it would be a remarkable accomplishment indeed to make Michelle Pfeiffer ugly. O’Toole’s role basically amounts to a cameo. Look for funnyman Ricky Gervais (the British “The Office,” “Extras”) in a hilarious appearance as Ferdy, a trader whose big mouth gets him in trouble with the film’s villains.

And I can’t forget Robert De Niro, who plays Captain Shakespeare, commander of an airship that catches lightning bolts. The captain, it seems, has a thing for dressing up in women’s clothes and prancing about in his private quarters. While admittedly funny, Shakespeare remains an awkward and ultimately unnecessary addition to an already-busy film.

In addition to the film’s protracted third act, Vaughn stumbles a bit in the beginning, mainly with Dunstan’s visit to Stormhold. The nagging question in my head was why the witch’s slave was so eager to knock boots with the young man. This is an example of Vaughn and Goldman compressing Gaiman’s narrative, a practice which is less transparent in other parts of the film.

Still, this is a promising second film from Vaughn, and his talented cast only makes this experience that much more, well, magical.

On the Net:

• Stardust official site