StarStruck
True love runs a little differently on the Disney Channel.
If you are a cute, kinda moody, no-nonsense, misunderstood teen, then you
too can find true like with a gorgeous, sensitive but artistically
frustrated pop star. It will be an case of hate at first sight, but soon
you will come to respect and care for each other and both will suddenly
notice with a start that the other one is hella cute. And despite the
roadblocks thrown up by fame, fans, paparazzi and managers, true love will
triumph because you understand and respect the real person, not merely the
huge star.
No, StarStruck isn’t Hannah Montana: The Movie, Camp Rock or
any other of several made-for-cable tween romances with a similar plot. It
just kind of feels like them.
It’s not even necessarily a bad movie (though it is also not necessarily a
good one). It just feels like we’ve seen this story before.
But, it’s a familiar story told fairly well.
True, StarStruck is very much a movie for a very specific
demographic. For example, males over the age of 25 will probably have
little great need to see it. But, to quote the immortal Willie Dixon, a
legendary bluesman that the pop-rock superstar in this movie has probably
never even heard of, “The men don’t know, but the little girls understand.”
That misunderstood-but-oh-so-dreamy pop star is Christopher Wilde, played
Sterling Knight of Disney Channel’s series Sonny With a Chance.
(Disney likes cross-pollinating its franchises.) He’s barely 20 but become
a huge singing star, dealing with sycophantic friends and parents, a
gold-digging girlfriend, a constant barrage from the media and the loss of
the ability to be just a normal kid.
The normal kid is Jessica – or at least as close to normal as kids get on
the Disney Channel. Played by Danielle Campbell, she is gorgeous, but not
in an in-your-face way. She is just a natural and unassuming beauty.
She’s also moody and just occasionally a little bitchy, but that’s just
because no one in her Michigan hometown understands her. And… (Irony
alert!) Jessica’s annoying older sister is Christopher Wilde’s BIGGEST FAN,
but Jess can’t be bothered with the self-absorbed Hollywood kid.
I
think we see a love match coming down the road here.
Of course, the family goes on vacation in Hollywood to see their fun and
sassy granny. Of course, older sis plans on stalking her idol for the
entire trip. Of course, the singer will meet the wrong sister… or the
right one.
First they have to meet
cute (he is sneaking out the back door of a party to get away from
photographers and bops her on the head with a door!). Then they fight cute
(she wants to go home but he has to go to an important party). Next they
make up cute (having a fun day seeing LA landmarks like Hollywood Blvd and
the Malibu Hills). Finally, they have a bonding moment (they mistakenly
drive her grandmother’s vintage 1970s AMC Pacer in a desert stretch of
quicksand. Umm, this is still Malibu, right?).
This leads to the requisite complications – can the singer put his love for
her over his career momentum?
It’s a Disney Channel movie; do you really have to ask?
You’re not looking for anything tragic or too ambiguous from a movie like
StarStruck. You are just looking for cute boys, cute girls, cute
scenery, chipper pop music (in a nice touch, Disney has packaged the
soundtrack album in the DVD packaging) and true love conquering all.
StarStruck
works just fine as a
starter-romantic comedy for tween-age girls. That is all that the film ever
wanted to do.
Dave Strohler
Copyright ©2010 PopEntertainment.com.
All rights reserved. Posted: June 1, 2010.
