Childstar

2004

Comedy / Drama

4
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 42% · 9 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 42% · 1K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.0/10 10 1124 1.1K

movie business greed fame limousine driver child actor stage mother

Plot summary

An experimental filmmaker takes a job as a driver for a foul-mouthed child actor and his ambitious stage mother.

Director

Don McKellar Photo
Don McKellar

Top cast

Jennifer Jason Leigh Photo
Jennifer Jason Leigh as Suzanne
Jeffrey R. Smith Photo
Jeffrey R. Smith as Mr. Cramer-Byng
Eric Stoltz Photo
Eric Stoltz as Fresno Burnbaum - Dad
Patrick Garrow Photo
Patrick Garrow as P.R. Agent
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
910.68 MB
1280*544
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 39 min
Seeds 1
1.65 GB
1920*816
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 39 min
Seeds 3

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by pwalkerfm 6 / 10

Hmm. Not sure about this one...

I just watched this for the first time on my cable companies free On-Demand. I would say, interesting...complicated...disjointed...but demanding a 2nd view. Jennifer Jason Leigh is somewhat under-stated in this, and the boy is believable at times, totally not at other times. Questions come up at the end of almost every scene, so that's why I probably will view this again. But, can't help feeling I'm watching a "E-True Hollywood Story" about "Family Ties" or "Growing Pains" (what with Alan Thicke in this) at times it feels like an entertainment documentary, with some added drama that I won't "spoil". The fact that this was filmed in Canada is kind of parody of itself in that they make fun of that fact, but yet are also filming in Canada. Ironic.
Reviewed by SnoopyStyle 7 / 10

childstar

Famous 12 year old TV star Taylor Brandon Burns arrives in Toronto with his manager mom Suzanne Burnbaum (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to do a big budget bombastic movie. Rick Shiller (Don McKellar) is the struggling indie filmmaker turned reluctant driver. Taylor is under tremendous pressure struggling to grow up in a grown up world. Suzanne is useless and having a fling with Rick. When Taylor goes missing with struggling actress Natalie, Rick has to go find him.This actually got interesting. The most interesting is Taylor running away with Natalie. The movie needs to be about that. The other parts should be trimmed back. McKellar should really get out of the way of his own movie. It should not be his movie. It should be about the kid. It's risky to bet the whole project on a child actor but this kid has the skills to pull it off.The moviemaking within the movie has one great section with Taylor in the fake cockpit. The fake CGI is a big mistake. The movie does not need it and it looks really fake. The only way to save that is to make sure that the audience knows the footage is rudimentary test footage. The main problem with that is the audience is unlikely to be smart enough to get it. All in all, I really like the kid's performance and his struggles.
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