'Brenda Starr'
Maybe we could have waited awhile longer.
After five years of bruising lawsuits and ownership changes that delayed the release of ''Brenda Starr, '' the film that limps into a limited release this week hardly warrants the fuss.
This live-action version of Dale Messick's 50-year-old comic strip is a slight and forgettable action comedy. By now ''Brenda Starr'' should have been a dusty video shelf-item, rented occasionally to entertain undemanding family audiences.
In a few more months it will fulfill that destiny. Triumph has little hope of attracting any kind of theatrical response other than from the insatiably curious.
Brooke Shields is certainly glamorous enough as the red-headed reporter-cum-clothes horse. And Timothy Dalton cuts a dashing figure as her mysterious admirer and helpmate, Basil St. John.
But a multitude of writers force the humor at every turn. Director Robert Ellis Miller pushes even harder for farcical action to wearying effect.
The only glimmer of a potentially amusing satirical film lies in the comic-strip ambiance provided by John J. Lloyd's production design and in a provocative character played by Tony Peck, the illustrator who draws the strip and somehow becomes entangled in the heroine's escapades.
But rather than playing with the intriguing possibilities of an artist getting involved with his fictional creation, Miller and the writers allow Peck's character to become a third wheel to the romance between Brenda and Basil.
The filmmakers compound the missed opportunities in not fully deploying fiery Diana Scarwid, who plays a rival reporter.
The story about Brenda's hot pursuit of a Nazi scientist in the South American jungle is thinner than a ''Saturday Night Live'' skit.
Bob Mackie's terrific '40s costumes worn by Shields are decked out with more imagination. Indeed some sequences come together for the express purpose of displaying Mackie's creation. At least that opportunity wasn't missed.
BRENDA STARR
Triumph Releasing
Producer Myron A. Hyman
Director Robert Ellis Miller
Executive producer John D. Backe, Alana H. Lambros
Screenplay Jenny Wolkind, Noreen Stone, James David Buchanan
Based on the comic strip by Dale Messick
Director of photography Freddie Francis
Production designer John J. Lloyd
Music Johnny Mandel
Editor Mark Melnick
Costumes for Brooke Shields Bob Mackie
Costume designer Peggy Farrell
Animation Japhet Asher
Color
Cast:
Brenda Starr Brooke Shields
Basil St. John Timothy Dalton
Mike Randall Tony Peck
Libby (Lips) Lipscomb Diana Scarwid
Newspaper editor Charles Durning
Police Chief Eddie Albert
Vladimir Jeffrey Tambor
Luba June Gable
Prof. Von Kreutzer Henry Gibson
Running time -- 94 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
After five years of bruising lawsuits and ownership changes that delayed the release of ''Brenda Starr, '' the film that limps into a limited release this week hardly warrants the fuss.
This live-action version of Dale Messick's 50-year-old comic strip is a slight and forgettable action comedy. By now ''Brenda Starr'' should have been a dusty video shelf-item, rented occasionally to entertain undemanding family audiences.
In a few more months it will fulfill that destiny. Triumph has little hope of attracting any kind of theatrical response other than from the insatiably curious.
Brooke Shields is certainly glamorous enough as the red-headed reporter-cum-clothes horse. And Timothy Dalton cuts a dashing figure as her mysterious admirer and helpmate, Basil St. John.
But a multitude of writers force the humor at every turn. Director Robert Ellis Miller pushes even harder for farcical action to wearying effect.
The only glimmer of a potentially amusing satirical film lies in the comic-strip ambiance provided by John J. Lloyd's production design and in a provocative character played by Tony Peck, the illustrator who draws the strip and somehow becomes entangled in the heroine's escapades.
But rather than playing with the intriguing possibilities of an artist getting involved with his fictional creation, Miller and the writers allow Peck's character to become a third wheel to the romance between Brenda and Basil.
The filmmakers compound the missed opportunities in not fully deploying fiery Diana Scarwid, who plays a rival reporter.
The story about Brenda's hot pursuit of a Nazi scientist in the South American jungle is thinner than a ''Saturday Night Live'' skit.
Bob Mackie's terrific '40s costumes worn by Shields are decked out with more imagination. Indeed some sequences come together for the express purpose of displaying Mackie's creation. At least that opportunity wasn't missed.
BRENDA STARR
Triumph Releasing
Producer Myron A. Hyman
Director Robert Ellis Miller
Executive producer John D. Backe, Alana H. Lambros
Screenplay Jenny Wolkind, Noreen Stone, James David Buchanan
Based on the comic strip by Dale Messick
Director of photography Freddie Francis
Production designer John J. Lloyd
Music Johnny Mandel
Editor Mark Melnick
Costumes for Brooke Shields Bob Mackie
Costume designer Peggy Farrell
Animation Japhet Asher
Color
Cast:
Brenda Starr Brooke Shields
Basil St. John Timothy Dalton
Mike Randall Tony Peck
Libby (Lips) Lipscomb Diana Scarwid
Newspaper editor Charles Durning
Police Chief Eddie Albert
Vladimir Jeffrey Tambor
Luba June Gable
Prof. Von Kreutzer Henry Gibson
Running time -- 94 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
- 4/16/1992
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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