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Childstar (2004)
8/10
Don Mckellar scores in this charmingly comic take on the life of celebrities and those that rely on them.
13 September 2005
Don Mckellar is a comic genius, as long as dry wit with an accent is your kind of laugh-a-thon. It is mine, so I loved this movie.

Mckellar plays an endearing character who has just divorced the love of his life, for whom he has shot an independent film which has no backing as his on film love letter equates romantic love to ADHD images erratically juxtaposed against the nature. Since he has to put peanut butter on his bread, he begins working as a driver for a film being shot in his hometown. Thus, Mckellar's character meets 12 year old Taylor Bradford Burns, a teenage star whose fame is hanging on his ability to maintain "adorableness as a child" and thus, his film company and agents are pushing him to do another film whether it's worth doing or not (which is certainly debatable) before his "voice changes".

Jennifer Jason Leigh is exquisite as always in her cooler than ever way, as the mother of the child. She's just looking to "take care of Taylor" the best way she knows how - which includes getting him the largest salary possible, living in the poshest house the studio will foot the bill for, and ensuring that he has "a male role model" by turning her responsibilities over to the first available and passably attractive guy she runs into --- who is of course, our newbie driver.

It's a fun movie. Taylor Bradford Burns is played by a young man who is straddling the line between youth and a teenager with more experience than anyone under 18 should have. Worth renting. Enjoy it with popcorn.
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9/10
A beautifully shot movie, haunting in an original way.
11 September 2005
I absolutely loved "It's All About Love". Not for the story line, which as others have commented on is problematic and less then obvious, but for it's haunting beauty. It's a movie that feels as though you are watching it through a drug infused haze, a very dreamy "floating in water" sort of haze; pleasant and pleasing except for the barest hint of anxiety that laps at the periphery of your consciousness.

Clare Danes is visually stunning in the movie. Joaquin Phoenix is excellent although the transition his character makes mid-way through the movie seems too abrupt - I didn't see internal struggle within him that would make me understand his willingness to stay, rather than continue with his plans.

I don't have a clear view as to what the movie was to "mean". Mr. Morrison is our individual date with death? Why are the Ugandans all floating away? What was the brothers betrayal really about? Sean Penn had such a small roll, I suppose he was illustrating that closeness of the heart has nothing to do with physical proximity? Why was he flying constantly when that was his greatest fear? I'm not sure all these things are supposed to "make sense". For me the allure of the movie was it's oddly disjointed and juxtaposed images, ideas and themes. Often senseless, oddly captivating, something we all cling to - just like life. - BernieBear
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