Clevercell Very disappointing...

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

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.

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Larry Silverstein This darkly funny and warm-hearted indie struck me the right way, although if you're easily offended it may not be for you. It can be quite sexually explicit at times with very raw language throughout.Set in Los Angeles, Dree Hemingway, whose screen presence and mannerisms remind me so much of her mother Mariel, stars as Jane, a young woman who decides to give her room a make-over. She starts to buy items at various yard sales, one of which is a large thermos that she purchases from an elderly woman named Sadie. Sadie is magnificently portrayed by Besedka Johnson, who has a remarkable personal story as well that I read on Wikipedia. This was her first movie, as she was discovered working out at a gym at the age of 85. Sadly, she passed away earlier this year.In the thermos Jane purchased she discovers after bringing it home that it contains thousands of dollars in rolled up hundreds. She's undecided as to how to handle this, and at one point brings it back to Sadie but is rebuffed before she can say much by the irritable woman. Jane finally decides to keep the money, but also decides in very clever ways to insert herself into Sadie's life, to help her with errands or in any way she can. This remarkable possible bonding between the two is the real heart of the movie, and I thought extremely well scripted and presented by the director Sean Baker, who also co-wrote the script with Chris Bergoch.We don't find out till about half way through the film that Jane is a porno actress, as is her emotionally volatile housemate Melissa, ably played by Stella Maeve. They're both sharing the house with Melissa's boyfriend Mikey (James Ransone), who seems like a nice guy but has no guilt about selling drugs, pimping, or shooting porno movies to raise cash.When Jane goes to work on the set is where the scenes can be quite sexually explicit, and they don't leave much to the imagination. There's also, as mentioned plenty of nudity and raw language as well.The surprise ending I thought was very poignant and touching, in my opinion. Of course, let me not forget Starlet, the incredibly cute Chihuahua of Jane's. He's a rescue dog and won my heart early on and he becomes an important part of the film as well.All in all, I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked this indie that I picked up at my local library.

Steve Pulaski Twenty-one year old Jane (Dree Hemingway) is a porn actress simply trying to make ends meet in a cruel world, living with her two deadbeat roommates, one of them a fellow actress. After purchasing a vase from an older woman and finding over $10,000 inside, she decides that the least she could do is try and befriend the woman to provide some resemblance of joy and happiness in her life. I suppose friendship is the least you can offer someone after taking the money they didn't know they had.The woman is eighty-five year old Sadie (Besedka Johnson), who spends her days calmly and in a true state of loneliness, tending her garden and quietly playing bingo at a senior's center. Meeting each other is a generational shock for the both of them in a way that doesn't revolve around the expected political/social norm changes. Instead, the details are shown just by the way they communicate and adapt to their own lifestyles accordingly. Jane would much rather go out of her way to get something more than textbook happiness, while Sadie feels disturbing consistent flow is a personal sin she can not commit.Sean S. Baker's Starlet is a sweet, tender little story detailing a generation gap that I love to see explored. It's a film, too, that boldly shows a lifestyle in a way that isn't comical or condescending. While the adult film industry only makes up a small part of Starlet's overall focus, it nonetheless makes its view on the industry respectable and mature. The maturity of director Baker, even as he treads dangerously close to smug depiction, remains visible throughout making this a truly sentimental work.The film is carried by the gifted performances of Hemingway and Johnson, who strike up a valuable, potent chemistry when they're on-screen together. Hemingway's brash qualities and aware attitude contrast boldly with Johnson's reclusive, control-freak persona, making for a relationship that is erected from more than smiles and good-feelings.Baker adopts the style of filmmaking known simply as "cinéma vérité," a style that heavily emphasizes the brutally honest, naturalistic side of life in filmmaking. I mention it here because the texture and look of the film plays a big role in its likability. Visuals are often mild and possess a sunny disposition, the filmic atmosphere is accentuated beautifully through the use of lens flare and flushed-out colors, and the warmness comes off as not a put-on, but a comforting feature.There are moments in Starlet that hold deep, uncompromising emotional drama, mainly in the scenes at bingo, where a coldly detached Sadie is left staring at her bingo card as if she really cares what the odds are. There's emotional honesty in the scene because we can see she is not really happy and Jane knows it as well as the audience does at that point. The scene is beautifully captured and scored perfectly so as not to be too mawkish or too downplayed.Ultimately, Starlet ends the way we kind of expected and its presence is more significant than a footnote but not so much as a genre-piece or a game-changing masterwork. It's short, simple, but above all, an effective illustration of emotion and tone as a coming of age story and a slight meditation on age and its downsides. It provides warmth and heart in its material, but most importantly, an unmissable soul as it shows both generations in full bloom and the naive impulses they give off that often prevent entire personal connection.Starring: Dree Hemingway and Besedka Johnson. Directed by Sean S. Baker.

Boris_Day Starlet is a character study very much in the spirit of films from the 70s. I think the director was influenced by the likes of Hal Ashby and Paul Mazursky.A young, slightly aimless woman who has just moved San Fernando Valley, buys a vintage thermos flask at a yard sale from a cranky old lady and discovers $10.000 inside. After making a half-hearted attempt to give it back, she keeps the money, but then feels guilty and tries to befriend the old woman, who remains guarded to the point of hostility at the prospect of having her life disrupted.The film doesn't ever resort to cosy indie movie clichés about the old passing on their wisdom the the young and life lessons being learned. It also doesn't exploit the young woman's line of business for cheap melodrama, as lesser films would. Both lead performances are wonderful and a cute dog always helps.The film looks and sounds gorgeous and the director has a knack for what to show us and what to leave out. It's another good case for digital film-making. Talented independent film makers can now make great looking films for peanuts, which is just as well considering Hollywood has almost completely given up on making films for adults. BTW. the trailer makes this look like another anodyne "heart warming" indie, full of laughter and whimsy, when really it's a much more melancholy, ambivalent and subtle film.

eddyhuxster I'm going to keep this simple as possible i just watched and interview with the director.Who explains the film and where he was coming from when he created it .He explained the relationship between the two characters as like a harold and maude. In that respect he nailed it ,he also said this was and adult film.Harold and maude was more of a solid story with more substance.So if your a fan of harold and maude and or watched it and became a fan of it .Don't waste your time watching this because it shits on the original format big time.This movie starts off like its going to be a story about a younger woman and a older woman.As the main plot line but, the more i watched i saw that the movie was about this girl being in the porn industry.Then her relationship with the older woman.Hate to sound cynical but this is just and adult film with a some what solid plot.For those who haven't seen it,there is a explicit sex scene in it .I know sean baker is known for his realism.In today's age realism has become the ultimate cliché making him irrelevant.He should of just focused on making a solid effective story .Instead he went for those kick in the gut reactions its 2012 buddy get with the times.The acting was phenonmenal..coming from the old lady .It was so good i thought they just hired a regualr person to do that part . All the other actors were so/so. Dree hemingway is a decent actress can't say much else for the girl.Compared to her co star she also looked like a random girl off the street.One that had very little business with acting period .The writing at times seemed like filler except when it was between the two main actors.Overall the 6.5 rating was too high for me but i did give it some credit.If your looking to be blown away and touched by a performance.Please go see this movie mainly for besedka johnson you will not be disappointed.If your interested in seeing and adult film with a plot also go see this film you wont be disappointed. If your looking for a great story with substance and a redeeming quality don't bother.