ChicRawIdol
A brilliant film that helped define a genre
ChanFamous
I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.
AnhartLinkin
This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
bob the moo
What is it about the combination of Guy Ritchie and Madonna that seems to create films that fall short of the mark? They must be doing it deliberately – there is no way they can have this high hit rate by fluke. Star is the fourth in the series of BWM films featuring Clive Owen as The Driver and so far it is the weakest by some considerable distance. The plot here is that a really annoying diva of a star (played by guess who?) storms out of her own car and into that of the nearby driver. She demands he lose her bodyguards in the car behind and berates him for his slow driving – well, or at least she does until the Driver gets the green-light from her manager, who has set it all up to have some quiet revenge at her expense.The approach here is comedy and in a way it is pretty amusing. On the face of it the idea of Madonna being thrown around in the back of a car and having all of the "diva" shaken out of her is actually quite funny, but somehow it doesn't manage to fill a film that is only 6 minutes long (a big chunk of which is the set-up to said gag). The film opens with the style that we expect from Richie – freeze-frame in support of the narration etc and it is not too bad at this stage. The idea isn't too bad either but sadly what spoils it is the sheer overegging of the comedic cake that is done by everyone. The warning signs are right here in the choice of Song #2 by Blur – great track but really obvious in regards its choice and its application. It continues thus with overdone physical comedy that mainly features Madonna's double falling round in the back seat but draws in the car (OTT movements) and even Clive Owen (OTT facial expressions) before it is over. Even the ending spoils its funny simplicity by adding a "up to 11" bit that seems unnecessary.It isn't awful by any means, it is just so very broad and obvious that one wonders why they bothered going to the expense of the director. It has its moments but mostly the comedy is battered to death by Richie's very heavy touch combined with Madonna's inability to even be convincing when playing a role that one would have thought to have been second nature for her. Surprisingly far below the standard set by the previous three films in The Hire series.
MartinHafer
In 2001 and 2002, BMW sponsored a series of 8 films all with the common theme that a BMW was prominently featured in it....and, of all things, Clive Owen starred in each one. For this odd experiment, some of the top directors in the world were somehow obtained--including John Woo, Ang Lee and even the great veteran director John Frankenheimer. While I don't think you'd consider Guy Richie a great director (mostly because his track record is still pretty short AND because he made "Swept Away"), I do think he showed greatness with this short film. Imagine....Richie made a film I liked more than one of my heroes, John Frankenheimer--and I really, really liked the Frankenheimer short.This film stars Richie's wife at the time, Madonna. Now I am not sure how much of this is the real Madonna and how much is just a fun parody--I certainly don't know the lady and can't comment on what she's like off stage! I hope this film is her way at poking fun of herself and celebrities! Regardless, it's a dandy film.It begins with Madonna (who is never mentioned by name, but she plays a mega-music star) getting ready to be driven to her next performance. In the process, she treats her employees like dirt and her attitude is contemptible. She truly is a horrid person in this film. However, what she doesn't know is that she's about to ride in a BMW M3--one of the hottest sports sedans in the world. My wife has a car with the same sports package and engine--and it is a rocket (this is NOT an ad for BMW, by the way--I like my non-German minivan, thank you very much!). But it's important to the story as the driver gets to use this car to teach this spoiled brat a little bit of humility!! Exquisitely acted, constructed and filmed--this is one impressive short film and I guess I have to give Richie another try--just NOT his "Sherlock Holmes" (as I am Holmes purist).
davetong
Guy Ritchie yet again demonstrates his ability to tell the whole story in the minimum number of frames. All the BMW films are worth the download time, but STAR is definitely the pick of the crop. Clive Owen is a fine dramatic actor (I really enjoyed his performance in Croupier); now he gets the chance to do comedy - and he does it very well. Considering that he spends the entire film sat in a car he does a great performance with his eyes alone. The script is very funny, the editing sharp to a frame, and Madonna demonstrates that being a pop diva doesn't mean that you can't laugh at yourself.Why are you reading this when you could be downloading it?
tien-1
Have not had so much fun in less than 7 minutes...Wondering that Madonna accepted to participate in this movie...But great and surprising...Tien
