Stars and Bars

This is one of those rare films that seems to divide into only two groups: You will only be able to love or hate this movie. However, I think the previous reviews leave out an essential element to determining which camp you fall into: whether you are interested in the actors (based on previous roles) or the film.

The best way to give you some idea of what to expect is the usual vehicle: comparison with other films. If you loved Martin Scorcese's film, After Hours or enjoyed Something Wild (with Melanie Griffith and Jeff Daniels) or were even guiltily amused by Who's That Girl (Madonna and Griffin Dunne), then you will probably like this movie. Stars and Bars uses a similar formula of "straight laced, uptight man" being taken for a wild adventure by "free-spirited, sexy woman".

Obviously, this would put someone like Daniel Day-Lewis into the right role (a tightly wound serious man), but in a very different universe from films like "My Left Foot" and "The Age of Innocence". If you are hoping for another period piece or serious art, this film is not for you. Luckily, I happen to like films that range from Wim Wenders to the latest Adam Sandler vehicle. :)

William Boyd's "Stars and Bars" - the book - stands in the great tradition of the English comic novel (Evelyn Waugh being one of Boyd's masters and inspirators). Now, I've seen the film only in German language... That's a pity because of the resulting demi-lack of Englishman-in-New-York-effects. As you can image, the German translation cannot be that perfect. I guess that the linguistical misunderstandings between the "hero" (Day Lewis) and the bizarre Georgian family with Anglophobic slursare are ten times funnier in the original version (as they are in the book). Anyway, I liked the film immediately and I'm happy to have taped it. Great cast! Unforgettable: Maury Chaykin as Elvis-like Freeborn.

This fish out of water film has Daniel Day Lewis, uptight Englishman, thrown into a dysfunctional family of Southern hillbillies lead by Harry Dean Stanton. Not unlike Stanton's similar misfire movie "Twister", the story is slight, but not as stretched as "Twister". Both movies have offbeat characters on parade. "Stars and Bars" begins with a rather unflattering view of New York City, and then relies on Georgia backwoods stereotypes for both dark and slapstick humor. This film would certainly have to be classified as an acquired taste, and there are plenty of dead spots throughout. Nevertheless, the quirky characters, played by some good character actors, is enough to recommend for admirers of the strange. - MERK

I remember standing in a long line to see this in Manhattan, and thinking that the New York parts were a perfect representation of the city at that moment in time. It's a weird vehicle for Daniel Day-Lewis, apart from his ability to play a perfect British upper class twit - I don't think he's done a comedy since (and certainly not before). The use of Joan Cusack as leading lady and love object is bizarre, too - up until this point she'd been relegated to kooky sidekick/friend of the heroine roles (Broadcast News springs immediately to mind), something she went back to almost immediately after this film. It's strange all around, but also a funny time capsule of sorts. I too wish it was out on DVD.

My review was written in March 1988 after watching the film at a Manhattan screening room.

In David Puttam's legacy at Columbia Pictures, "Stars and Bars" represents a major faux pas. Unfunny mixture of farce and misdirected satire has no conceivable audience apart from undiscriminating pay-cable viewers.

Project was developed by Puttna, but given to his ex-partner Sandy Lieberson to produce after Puttnam acceded to head of Columbia. Though an American picture, it features a high complement of U. K. personnel behind the camera.

Scripted by William Boyd from his novel, thin story line follows the misadventures of a Brit in America, or rather someone's view of what America is like (targets of Boyd's satire are all straw men). Daniel Day-Lewis plays the hapless hero, an art expert sent by his boss to acquire a rare Renoir painting (worth about $10,000,000) from hayseed Harry Dean Stanton, who claims to have bought it for $500 in France in 1946.

Bulk of the pic deals with Day-Lewis' interactions with Stanton's weird brood, including Maury Chaykin as his Elvis-imitating son who already has sold the painting to unscrupulous, rival New York art dealers. Nonsensical gags and caricatures represent a real comedown from Hollywood's cutesy but effective portrayal of Southern goofballs, especially in such funny films as the 1945 Fred MacMurray vehicle, "Murder, He Says".

Add to this concoctions some awkward bedroom farce (Day-Lewis unconvincingly juggling his new pickup, Joan Cusack, at an Atlanta hotelwith his fiancee Laurie Metcalf) that wouldn't pass muster as a West End farce for the tourist trade, and pic self-destructs rapidly. Helmer Pat O'Connor evidences no feel for comedy, having the cast overact unmercifully, except for standup comic Steven Wright (as Day-Lewis' business rival) who maintains his familiar deadpan pesona.

Day-Lewis is downright embarrassing, suffering through two extended nude chase scenes and nearly bursting a blood vessel in his uncharacteristic turn. Stanton is wasted in the sort of role he graduated from a decade ago and juve actress Martha Plimpton is miscast in a precocious temptress role.

Supporting cast is one long in-joke, featuring tons of New York talent whose presence will mean nothing to national audiences and add nothing to the picture, e.g., Spalding Gray, Rockets Redglare. Structurally the fact that Will Patton (recently impressive as the villain in "No Way Out") has a key role but doesn't show up on screen until two brief scenes in the final reel is mystifying.

Sting contributes an excellent theme song "An Englishman in New York", from his latest LP, which is pointlessly reprised near the end of the film.