Star 80

1983 "The price of stardom was more than she bargained for."
6.8| 1h43m| R| en| More Info
Released: 10 November 1983 Released
Producted By: Warner Bros. Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Paul Snider is a narcissistic, small time hustler who fancies himself a ladies man. His life changes when he meets Dorothy Stratten working behind the counter of a Dairy Queen. Under his guidance Dorothy grows to fame as a Playboy Playmate. But when Dorothy begins pursuing an acting career, the jealous Paul finds himself elbowed out of the picture by more famous men.

Genre

Drama

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Director

Bob Fosse

Production Companies

Warner Bros. Pictures

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Star 80 Audience Reviews

KnotMissPriceless Why so much hype?
AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,
Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
njmollo Although many find the subject matter of Star 80 distasteful, there is no getting away from the fact that this is a brilliant piece of film making. The low rating this film has on IMDb is due to the uncompromising and macabre story concerning the murder of playmate Dorothy Stratten by her ex-lover Paul Snider yet on a technical level, Star 80 is an example of bravura filmmaking.Eric Roberts gives a powerhouse performance, which should have been highly rewarded and Mariel Hemmingway has never been better. The continuing neglect of Bob Fosse's disturbing classic is reflected in the fact that no DVD version is available in Europe or America. As a director Bob Fosse was uncompromising and Star 80 is an uncompromising interpretation of the desire for fame. This desire for fame can make people do sick things. This idea in itself is the reason Star 80 is so neglected and rejected. This is the last film by Bob Fosse and clearly shows what a master of the medium he had become. In fact Bob Fosse, with only five films to his credit, can arguably be regarded as one of the greatest film Director's the movie industry has ever seen. Highly recommended and due for reevaluation.
MlKEKIDDO Star 80 (Bob Fosse, 1983) – based on the true story of tragic fated Playboy's Playmate of the Year Dorothy Stratten, played by Woody Allen girl (REALLY a girl, anyone who's seen Allen's Manhattan would agree =/) Mariel Hemingway. It follows the story of how Stratten came to meet her murderer: her husband Paul Snider, played by Julia's big brother, Eric Roberts. Directed by Bob Fosse, whose films' like Cabaret and All That Jazz I've loved in the past for their decadent depictions of love, sex and show, the film starts by showing us the decay and the progress of Snider's anger, as he one day meets Dorothy and starts seeing her as an opportunity for success. What Fosse achieved in Cabaret and All That Jazz so effortlessly was that the flow of those films seemed invisible: they're both rather lengthy, they're both kind of raunchy, yet the energy in which he brings into his actors and into his direction make it all look so easy. Unfortunately, this is not the case for this film. Often we see the story fractured by interviews of people who knew Dorothy or Paul, trying to tell us things we're kind of already seeing in the film by these small character's reactions. By this Fosse seems willing to capture a documentary feel into the film, but it just seems unrealistic, not to mention some of the dialogues of these faux-interviews just come out so unnatural, and the saddest of all, it breaks the rhythm of the film considerably, which like I've already said seems to be Fosse's forte. Another glaring flaw in the picture seems to be some sort of unintentional sadism in the way the story's being told: rushedly shot only 3 years after the incident, the decision of filming the tragic climax in the same department where the real Dorothy Stratten was murdered, are often very obvious aspects the film never tries to hide even though it should, and the result just seems exploitative, and for the audience, downright unpleasant. But if the film does excel in some departments, it's in the acting: Mariel Hemingway rises above the script's lazy decision of never showing why Dorothy cares so much about the schlub, and with limited subtle stares and soft voice makes us understand that perhaps despite the uneasiness Paul provokes on her, there's an understanding and sympathetic feelings that make her try to handle the situation as long as humanly possible. On the other hand, and with an entirely different style of acting, there's Eric Roberts, who despite the screenplay's attempts to show the guy's situation in a sympathetic manner, never gives in into clichés and just shows Paul Snider's inner demons with such a pathos and in such a convincing way that he achieves a coldly truthful, honest, yet effortlessly transparent portrayal of this pathetic, sleazy man. All in all, a rushed, lazy and unpleasant project about a story that should have never been told, but that works as an acting showcase for both its stars just perfectly, they're the reason to at least give the film a try. Rating: C
entschuldigen I saw Star 80 back in the mid 80's on television. They edited a lot but it still remained potent then. I bought the movie in the 90's at local retail store. I must have watched it a dozen times. I was even more memorized by the character of Paul played by Eric. I liked how it was told from Fosse's view point about how Paul might have felt. I can see how those in the upper crowd didn't like him. His was mean, immature and just plain weird. Paul didn't really love Dorothy. He loved himself. The tragic part of this is that Dorothy loved Paul enough to be sympathy for his failures. He uses her heart only to kill her. What I like most about the film is that it shows the darker side of relationships. Anyone who is dating a Paul like character needs to see the film. It just might save their life!
Catcaio STAR 80 is a scary movie alright but the truth about the killing of Paul Snider and Dorothy Stratton is even scarier. Paul Snider grew up in Vancouver, B.C. in an apartment complex called Dolphin Court located in Kerrisdale, a higher class neighbourhood. He was pretty much a normal kid, played with all the other children in the complex, Frannie, Janice, Carol, the Nusant, kids, some kids who later became highly distinguished in their fields and some who were never heard of. like me. I remember we would sit around Richard's parents TV watching Maggie Muggins and Tom Terrific and Mighty Manfred the wonder dog. What was strange to me was that Paul would climb to the top of the slide at the playground in the center of the apartment complex and look down at me and yell " Penny! Penny!" I wasn't afraid of him I just remember he seemed to be crying out for help. My mother told me that Penny had been his little sister and was killed in an accident. His mother had told my mother that it had not been long since she had died and Paul was missing her.I suppose I looked like her.Not until years later did I learn from my mother that Paul had stabbed me in the back of my neck with a pair of sheers he had found in the basement. No details were ever given for how it happened or why.That was around 1956, Ever since my mother told me that I have wondered what could have happened. When I heard on the radio decades later, that Paul Snider had killed himself and Dorothy Stratto and then saw the movie I know something was all wrong.I now know what. I just have to put a few middle missing pieces together before I can see the whole truth. I am getting close.