FRANKIE STARLIGHT
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 7.3
Ireland, 1995 U.S. Availability: 12/95 Running Length: 1:40 MPAA Classification: R (Profanity, sexual situations) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Anne Parillaud, Gabriel Byrne, Matt Dillon, Peter Dinklage, Alan Pentony, Georgina Cates, Rudi Davis, Corban Walker Director: Michael Linday-Hogg Producers: Noel Pearson Screenplay: Ronan O'Leary and Chet Raymo based on the novel THE DORK OF CORK by Chet Raymo Cinematography: Paul Lauffer Music: Elmer Bernstein U.S. Distributor: Fine Line Features In English and French with subtitles
FRANKIE STARLIGHT is ambitious, and, as is often true of movies that attempt too much, it's only partially successful. The film tries to follow multi-character stories in three different time frames, using a voiceover narrative to connect everything. Parts work; parts don't. Individual enjoyment of FRANKIE STARLIGHT will largely depend upon which aspects of the film you choose to focus on.
The wraparound story tells the tale of a modern-day Irish author, Frank Bois (Peter Dinklage), who is submitting his manuscript, NIGHTSTALK (as in NIGHTS TALK, not NIGHT STALK), to an editor. The book is immediately snapped up by Penguin Press for publication. An overnight success, Frank can't help but wonder whether his good fortune is due to the quality of his work or to his physical stature--he's a dwarf. So he spends long hours in his hovel of a home, drinking wine and stewing in his loneliness.
According to Frank, NIGHTSTALK is an intermingling of astronomy with the stories of his and his mother's lives. FRANKIE STARLIGHT's ambitious agenda is to transform the events of NIGHTSTALK from text to screen images by means of lengthy flashbacks. These forays into the past start out with promise, as we first meet Bernadette (Anne Parillaud), Frank's mother, in Normandy, days before the Allied invasion. The setting soon changes to Ireland. Unfortunately, once the shores of France are behind Bernadette, the story starts glossing over key plot elements. Characterization becomes spotty as the film gropes for an anchor. Ultimately, FRANKIE STARLIGHT is saved from incoherent oblivion by the birth of Bernadette's son. While Parrillaud's character continues to be paper-thin, the young Frank (Alan Pentony) quickly asserts himself. Soon, our attention--not to mention our sympathy--is vested exclusively in him. Bernadette becomes an almost unwanted distraction.
The last third of the movie is by far the best. Taking place in the present, it brings together several loose threads from the past and weaves them into a touching love story. There's more emotional depth to Frank's relationship with his soul mate than is initially obvious, with director Michael Lindsay-Hogg handling this aspect of his film adeptly. The actors give heartfelt performances and the script avoids the trap of emotional artifice which ruins so many screen romances.
Throughout the entire picture, stars are a key symbol. Frank eventually becomes an amateur astronomer, and many of the film's best sequences take place on a rooftop with thousands of points of light twinkling in the darkened canopy above. It is there that father-figure Jack Kelly (Gabriel Byrne) first teaches young Frank stories about the constellations, and there that the film draws to a close. More scenes like these would have been welcome.
Connections, both made and missed, and the vagaries of life that lead us to react differently to the same people in diverse circumstances, form FRANKIE STARLIGHT's thematic backbone. As with most of the film's other aspects, these are generally successful as they pertain to Frank, but rarely work with Bernadette. Parillaud's acting is too flat, and the sketchiness of the screenplay, which follows her life in broad strokes with few details, doesn't help. We're sure how and why Frank connects with others; the same can rarely be said about his mother.
FRANKIE STARLIGHT is more satisfying taken as a whole than when its individual parts are examined. The film is flawed, but there's still enough magic and genuine emotion to make for a pleasant movie-going experience. Affability is perhaps FRANKIE STARLIGHT's strongest quality. No matter how many problems you uncover along the way, when the final credits roll, you're more likely to be smiling than frowning.
- James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com)
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