Star 80

 3.5/4

Starring: Eric Roberts, Mariel Hemingway, Cliff Robertson, Roger Rees, Carroll Baker

Rated R (probably for Strong Language, Sexuality/Nudity, and Some Brutal Violence)

Showbiz stories typically take a young man or woman (or a group of them) and show how they, with a bit of luck and pluck, became superstars.  Of course, that's the exception rather than the rule.  "Star 80" shows the darker side of that tale, where a woman grew to have it all only to have her life ended by the man who gave it to her.

When Paul Snider (Roberts) first saw Dorothy Stratten (Hemingway) working behind the cash register at a burger joint, he fell instantly in love.  He was transfixed with her beauty and showered her with attention and gifts until she was dizzy.  It didn't take long for him to groom a naive kid like her.  He persuaded her to get professional nude photos taken, claiming that he had an in at the Playboy mansion.  Lo and behold, she did get accepted to Hef's place, and her career took off into the stratosphere.  But that's when the problems started.  Paul became resentful of her success and she became desirous of more freedom from him.

Although Dorothy Stratten is the one everyone remembers, it is Paul Snider who takes center stage in the film.  Not surprisingly, I guess, considering that director Bob Fosse identified with him most.  He even told Eric Roberts that he would have been Paul Snider himself if he wasn't successful in showbiz.  Paul is a complicated man.  His outward charm hides a deep need to be liked and successful, and it turns to anger when he isn't either.  Dorothy, who couldn't hurt a fly, was unable to see through this, but everyone else was.  That only made him more desperate to control her.  Living through her wasn't enough; he needed success and validation first hand, but wasn't competent enough to get it.  Paul is a snake and a parasite, but Eric Roberts allows us to feel for him in a way that, believe it or not, is similar to how we felt for Nosferatu. Although Hugh Hefner (Robertson) disliked how he was portrayed in this movie enough to sue, he said that Roberts' portrayal was dead on the money.

Mariel Hemingway is just as good.  Dorothy is so innocent that it doesn't occur to her that Paul is using her.  She sees the good in everyone to a fault, even when others who are more savvy, like Hef, point out the obvious.  Only when she found Aram Nicholas (Rees), the stand-in for her real life lover Peter Bogdanovich, did she find someone who truly cared for her.  By that time, Paul was becoming increasingly deranged and possessive.  He desperately, obsessively needed her, and it took all her strength to cut him off.  She and Roberts have a fascinating relationship, even if it's toxic.

Fosse takes an interesting approach to telling the story.  The whole thing is presented in flashback with clips of Paul's ranting between the murder and his suicide.  Interspersed with the rise and fall of Paul and Dorothy are faux-interviews with the characters (including Dorothy herself when she was interviewed by the press).  It sounds more confusing than it is.  Fosse has organized his film so well that there's little risk of being lost.  Admittedly some of the jumps in time are abrupt and the film can feel a bit rushed here and there, but those are minor quibbles.  In truth, the film could have done with a few more minutes of screen time.

My dad recently cautioned me about watching depressing movies.  But while the tale of Dorothy Stratten is a sad story, the film itself is not depressing.  It shakes you, it involves you and it affects you in ways that only good drama can.  Why do you think that "Hamlet," "Schindler's List," and "Saving Private Ryan" have endured all these years?  Because, no matter how sad the story is, good drama enriches you and nourishes you.  Plus, you can't really argue against a movie that contains acting like this.  It has that going for it too.