Paparazzi (2004)

A rising Hollywood actor decides to take personal revenge against a group of four persistent photographers to make them pay for almost causing a personal tragedy involving his wife and son.

Director:

Paul Abascal

Writer:

Forry Smith (as Forrest Smith)

Stars:

Cole Hauser, Robin Tunney, Dennis Farina

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cole Hauser	...	Bo Laramie
Robin Tunney	...	Abby Laramie
Dennis Farina	...	Detective Burton
Daniel Baldwin	...	Wendell Stokes
Tom Hollander	...	Leonard Clark
Kevin Gage	...	Kevin Rosner
Blake Michael Bryan	...	Zach Laramie (as Blake Bryan)
Tom Sizemore	...	Rex Harper
Andrea Baker	...	Emily
Jordan Baker	...	Dr. Kelley
Joe Basile	...	Police Lab Tech
Lauren Birkell	...	Allison
Wendy Braun	...	Bo's Publicist
Kelly Carlson	...	Kristin
Greg Castro	...	Policeman

Storyline

Bo Laramie is a movie star who has finally achieved success. But success comes at a price, in the form of four persistent photographers known as the paparazzi. Using their dishonest methods of getting the money shot regardless of what it takes, they'll stop at nothing in exploiting Bo for every last penny. But when one of their ventures nearly costs Bo's life and that of his family when they cause a car accident and do nothing afterwords except take photos, Bo has finally reached his breaking point. In doing so, Bo decides to exact a crafty and complex revenge on those four who have enjoyed making his life a living hell with his focus on the paparazzi's ring leader, Rex Harper.

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Plot Keywords:

frame up | revenge | paparazzi | actor | movie star | 

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Taglines:

Hollywood's worst nightmare

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense violent sequences, sexual content and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

3 September 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Paparaciai

Filming Locations:

Lankershim Boulevard, North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,855,111, 5 September 2004, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$15,712,072, 14 November 2004

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, Icon Entertainment International, Icon Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At a certain point, Detective Burton (Dennis Farina) talks about how "one of those Baldwin brothers" was ripped off by an unscrupulous paparazzo. One of those "unscrupulous paparazzo" in this movie is played by Daniel Baldwin, "one of those Baldwin brothers".

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Goofs

When Bo Laramie is chasing the bad guy during the shooting of Adrenaline Force 2, the bad guy crashes into the window and Bo is supposed to be sliding down the ladder but he is still standing on the balcony.

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Quotes

[Rex has a videotape of Marcy having sex]
Rex Harper: You still think you're going to tell the police the truth about Laramie's accident, you'd BETTER THINK AGAIN! Not only will I broadcast this on every porno site on the internet, I'll make sure a copy ends up on your father's desk at the State Department.
Marcy: You wouldn't do that?
Rex Harper: Wouldn't I? That's not MY FACE you see on that screen. So go. GO to the police! SEE if I'm bluffing! Meanwhile, get out of my GODDAMN HOUSE! Get out of here!

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Connections

Features Speed (1994)

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Soundtracks

Going in the Right Direction
Performed by Robert Randolph and The Family Band
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Records, Inc.
By Arrangement with Warner Strategic Marketing
Written by Robert Randolph
Published by Happy Fingers Too Publishing (BMI)

User Reviews

Hollywood's Revenge

This is Hollywood's revenge movie against the Paparazzi, those goon photographers obsessed with getting celebrities' pictures at all costs, totally invading their privacy and often using the pictures in a dishonest way to invent gossipy stories for the tabloids.

This was an easy call for Hollywood because who was going to side against them in this film? If there was any doubt about any shred of decency concerning those photographers, this film quickly dispelled that with Tom Sizemore's character, a representative of that famous "press corps." They made Sizemore as sleazy and unethical as they could.

So what you wind you up with a basic revenge story, nothing new or earthshaking but almost always entertaining in whatever form. In this film, the photo guys mess up and the victim - an actor (Cole Hauser) - takes revenge by going after them. In the process, we see how he does it and along the way are treated to some amusing cameos by Mel Gibson, Chris Rock and Matthew McConaughey. Yeah, it's kind of a low-brow revenge flick, but it works. By the way, this is yet another film that should be rated R, not PG-13. That's as ludicrous as the paparazzi.