StarStruck plays it safe with a “fish out of water” and “don’t judge a book by its cover” plot teaching kids that you might find friends in the most unlikely of places. Disney’s direct-to-TV movie banks on the current pop culture obsession with Disney’s self-made tween stars and makes a story about a girl meeting a pop idol, whom she loathes, only for both of them to discover that the other represents something they’ve always wanted. It’s a simple story with decent child actors, painfully aware that it doesn’t have to do much to impress its automatic audience. The kiddies it’s aimed at will enjoy it at least the first time around, but repeat viewings won’t offer much and parents will find its characters tiresome from the start.
Steling Knight, who has an equal measure of Disney Channel and other credits to his name, plays the boy of every young girl’s dreams: Christopher Wilde, a pop singer who lives in a cool house and has his parents as agents. Girls swoon. They act like pack animals rabid for any moment with their celebrity icon of choice. All girls go gaga for him. All girls save for Jessica (Danielle Campbell) who can’t stand his empty public persona, and only resents him more for the adulation her sister oozes for even the smallest chance to be near him. That adulation eventually leads to the moment that kicks off the film’s plot. When Jessica’s sister learns of Christopher’s imminent arrival at a nearby club, she begs to be able to go, and is granted it if her sister goes with. Christopher’s appearance isn’t without some level of drama; in order to land a role in an upcoming film, which his parents tell him will be a huge turning point in his career, the director tells him to lay low in order to avoid any other bad run ins with paparazzi. So, when he sneaks out for his girlfriend’s birthday bash, he has to work hard not to be seen outside the club. After his musical number at the party, he attempts to sneak out leading to an awkward encounter with Jessica with both of them holing up at her house so he can avoid the press. The one night eventually stretches into a series of misadventures wherein the star learns that it’s probably healthy to have friends who aren’t so deeply embedded in his world of celebrity and Jessica learns that perhaps celebrities have depth that doesn’t come across on entertainment news programs.
It’s not a brilliant premise and it leaves you wondering if there’s a third message beyond the two that are actually worth teaching kids (don’t judge a book by its cover & the importance of friends who love you for who you are). Those first two are good messages, you can’t deny that. They’re veritable staples of countless after school specials. However, is teaching kids that celebrities are people too really the message that needs to be taught? Perhaps discouraging the idolization of people who are just as fallible as anyone else would be a more important third lesson? It would seem like the latter lesson would occur naturally as part of the one that occurs in StarStruck, but it really doesn’t. While stepping away from the world of glamour and showbiz certainly gave Wilde badly needed perspective (like realizing his parents are far more valuable to him as parents than agents).
DVD Bonus Features
Along with a soundtrack CD included in the packaging (featuring 12 tracks), the disc has a decent smattering of extras like the sing-along feature that is becoming increasingly common on Disney discs for films that have musical numbers or an extended musical scene. Of its extras, the most credible extras would have to be the three music videos, but even then you have to have really loved the film to get much out of it.
"StarStruck" is on sale June 8, 2010 and is rated G. Comedy, Drama. Directed by Michael Grossman. Written by Barbara Johns and Annie DeYoung. Starring Chelsea Staub, Sterling Knight, Danielle Campbell, Maggie Castle, Brandon Mychal Smith.
