Starbuck
Spunky
comedy
The
hero of Starbuck is a bit of a wanker.
Literally. We first meet
good-natured, 40-something loser David Wozniak (Patrick Huard) as he’s listlessly knocking
one out at the Montreal sperm bank where he’s been making regular deposits for
over 20 years under the pseudonym Starbuck.
A
less-than-reliable delivery boy for his family’s butcher shop and an
unsuccessful pot grower, David has managed to completely avoid responsibility
his whole life. But when his cop
girlfriend Valerie (Julie LeBreton) announces she’s pregnant he’s forced to
grow up fast, forsaking his freewheeling bachelor lifestyle, if he wants to be
a father to his unborn child.
Unfortunately,
David’s also just found out from the sperm bank that thanks to his particularly
fruitful babyjuice, he’s already an unwitting father – of 533 children! What’s more, 142 of them have just
launched a class action suit against him and the clinic that will force him to
reveal his identity. As the case becomes
a media circus and David struggles to remain anonymous, he becomes curious
about his biological children, begins inserting himself into their lives,
becoming both friend and covert guardian angel, getting to know them without
revealing his identity, changing their lives in ways both big and small.
While
it’s about 25 minutes too long and treads similar ground to last year’s
documentary Donor Unknown, Starbuck is a sweetly sentimental but, importantly, not cloyingly
so, French-Canadian comedy. Already
gearing up for a Spielberg-produced Hollywood remake starring Frat Pack
doofus-in-chief Vince Vaughn, it’s never quite as funny as it thinks it is but at least
it’s not the smutty gross-out fest it could’ve been. What’s the bets someone, probably Katherine Heigl or Elizabeth Banks or whoever else ends up
playing the girlfriend, gets a mooshful of sploosh in the Vince Vaughn
version? It’s witty without being
bawdy, gently funny without ever reducing itself to the sappiness always bubbling
under the surface.
There’s
no real urgency to the script and certainly no surprises. Every beat of the film is predictable
but it’s crowd-pleasingly likeable fun; we’re never in any doubt that David’s
going to end up a better man by the end or that his progeny will come to love
him, but it’s a pleasant journey with amiable travelling companions. Starbuck’s greatest strength in fact lies in its
superb cast. In the fat best
friend role that’ll no doubt go to Jon Favreau, Antoine Bertrand is funny as David’s best bud Paul,
a harassed dad and underachieving lawyer, while Julie LeBreton is luminous as
David’s feisty, no-nonsense girlfriend.
The film stands or falls though on Patrick Huard’s excellent performance
as the amiable, well-meaning man-child who becomes a bumbling force of
benevolence to his new, extended family.
Consistently
gently amusing without ever making you bark with laughter, Starbuck is a crowd-pleasing movie
that will actually please the crowd.
David Watson
Directed by:
Written by:
Produced by:
Starring:
Genre:
Comedy
Language:
French
Runtime:
1 hour 49
minutes
Certificate:
15
Rating:
3/5
UK
Release Date:
Friday
23rd November
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