Starbuck (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Starbuck
Directed by Ken Scott
Produced by André Rouleau
Written by Martin Petit
Ken Scott
Starring Patrick Huard
Antoine Bertrand
Julie LeBreton
Music by David Lafleche
Cinematography Pierre Gill
Editing by Yvann Thibaudeau
Studio Caramel Film
Distributed by Les Films Christal (Canada)
Entertainment One (US)
Release dates
  • 27 July 2011 (2011-07-27) (Quebec)
  • 14 September 2011 (2011-09-14) (TIFF)
Running time 109 minutes[1]
Country Canada
Language French
Spanish
Box office $6,320,093 (Worldwide)[2]

Starbuck is a 2011 Canadian comedy film directed by Ken Scott and written by Scott and Martin Petit.[3] It stars Patrick Huard (Bon Cop, Bad Cop), Antoine Bertrand, and Julie LeBreton as the main character, his friend/lawyer, and his girlfriend, respectively.

The film's title refers to a Canadian Holstein bull who produced hundreds of thousands of progeny by artificial insemination in the 1980s and 1990s.[4]

Plot

In a 1988 prologue, David Wozniak is at a Quebec sperm bank making a donation. Twenty-three years later, in 2011, he is a hapless deliveryman for his family's butcher shop, pursued by thugs whom he owes $80,000. His girlfriend Valérie is pregnant with his child. One day, David returns from work to find a lawyer from the sperm bank who tells him he had fathered 533 children. Of those, 142 have joined a class action lawsuit to force the fertility clinic to reveal the identity of "Starbuck", the alias he had used.

David's friend and lawyer represents him as he tries to keep the records sealed. He provides David with profiles of each party to the lawsuit: David stalks them, finding moments for random acts of kindness. David decides to identify himself, but after the thugs assault his father, he agrees with his lawyer to sue the sperm bank for damages. He wins the lawsuit: he receives $200,000 and keeps his identity a secret.

David has regrets, but after his father pays off his debt, David sends out an e-mail identifying himself. He goes to Valerie's house as she is going into premature labour. At the hospital, his baby is born, he proposes to Valerie, and many of the children show up to see him.

Cast

  • Patrick Huard as David Wozniak/Starbuck
  • Antoine Bertrand as David's lawyer
  • Julie LeBreton as Valérie
  • Igor Ovadis as David's father, an immigrant from Poland.[4]
  • Dominic Philie as Frère sombre
  • Marc Bélanger as Frère sympathique
  • David Michaël as Antoine
  • Patrick Martin as Étienne
  • David Giguère as speaker
  • Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse as Julie

Reception

Starbuck was screened at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival on 14-15 September 2011,[5] where it was runner-up for the People's Choice Award.[6] The film was also chosen "Most Popular Canadian Film" at the 2011 Vancouver International Film Festival.[6]

In September 2011, Chris Knight, the chief film critic for the National Post, called it a "sparkling crowd-pleaser" based on a "ludicrous premise, sure. But Scott's pithy script (co-written by Martin Petit), linked to Huard's likeable layabout, makes the whole thing as easy to take as candy from a baby."[7]

Upon its November 2012 UK release, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave it (two stars out of five), and called it a "lame comedy-drama" that loses "almost all the charm of the real story...through the contrivances and overacting."[8]

Box office

The film was the most successful Quebec-made film within the province in 2011, bringing in $3,399,338 in box office revenue for the year.[9]

Remakes

An Indian Bollywood version of the film, named Vicky Donor and produced by First Take Entertainment, was released in 2012, although it was only loosely based on the original.[9]

A French remake and an American remake of Starbuck were produced nearly concurrently. The French remake, titled Fonzy was released on October 30, 2013 in France. José Garcia played the lead character.[10]

The American remake, entitled Delivery Man, was directed and co-written by Scott himself. It was produced by Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks Pictures, and Vince Vaughn played the lead character.[11][12] It was released on November 22, 2013.

References

  1. ↑ "STARBUCK (15)". Signature Entertainment. British Board of Film Classification. 5 October 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2013. 
  2. ↑ "Starbuck (U.S. only) (2013) - International Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. Retrieved 14 September 2013. 
  3. ↑ Smith, Ian Hayden (2012). International Film Guide 2012. p. 84. ISBN 978-1908215017. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Kelly, Brendan (27 July 2011). "Fertile premise delivers laughs - and insight into fatherhood". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 10 August 2011. 
  5. ↑ "Starbuck, Ken Scott: Gala Presentations". Toronto International Film Festival. September 2011. Retrieved 18 September 2011. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Starbuck is a crowd-pleasing comedy from Quebec". reelshorts.ca. 22 November 2011. Retrieved 2013-04-18. 
  7. ↑ Knight, Chris (22 September 2011). "Film Review: Starbuck (3.5 stars)". National Post. Retrieved 18 April 2013. 
  8. ↑ Bradshaw, Peter (22 November 2012). "Film Review: Starbuck (3.5 stars)". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 April 2013. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Massé, Isabelle (4 January 2012). "Starbuck renaîtra en Inde (Starbuck is reborn in India)". La Presse. Retrieved 19 February 2012. 
  10. ↑ Rechtshaffen, Michael (November 12, 2013). "Delivery Man: Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2013-11-15. 
  11. ↑ "Breakdown Express". Talentrep.breakdownexpress.com. Retrieved 2012-08-03. 
  12. ↑ "La Zone Audio • Vidéo". Radio-Canada.ca. Retrieved 2012-08-03. 

External links

Films directed by Ken Scott
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.