Absolutely Brilliant!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

More often than not, stories based on tragic but intriguing actual events make easy sells for Hollywood screenplays. However, when these screenplays get made into movies by filmmakers who are a bit too anxious to make a true story juicier than it already is, it really shows in the film's final cut. Acting on the urge to sensationalize truly makes what could be a great movie into . . . well, one that is just okay.As sad a story as the savage murder of 1979 Playboy Playmate of the Year Dorothy Strattan is, its details almost beg to be seen on the big screen. She was shot and killed by her own husband, who actually discovered her and played a big part in her rise to fame through Playboy. Such a story is obviously captivating, but there is also a lot of complexity to it. Unfortunately, in ignoring any complexity this story had to have had, the filmmakers made a mediocre biopic that has not stood the test of time very well.Eric Roberts plays Paul Snider, the small time hustler who discovers, weds, and eventually murders Dorothy Strattan, with so much sleaziness that his performance becomes distracting and difficult to take seriously. In a way, such sordid qualities in his character made him interesting. For instance, in the beginning of the film, you see Roberts lifting weights, then flexing his muscles in front of a mirror. He's in great shape, but somehow manages to reflect a lack of self confidence through his vanity. His straight hair and pencil-thick mustache are too slick for his own good.There are also scenes where he's in the Playboy mansion, and knows a great deal about the people who are at the party, particularly Hugh Hefner (Cliff Robertson). Snider can quote Hefner verbatim, and does right in front of the pajama-clad CEO himself. Robertson, as Hefner, looks unimpressed, and you don't blame him for feeling that way.All these insecurities are well and good for these scenes, but they fly in the face of logic when Dorothy Strattan (Mariel Hemingway) comes into the picture. Hemingway is very good in her performance as the naive but sweet girl from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, who rises to fame without letting it or Playboy's occasional notoriety corrupt her.However, I kept asking myself why a woman as beguiling and radiant as her would ever date, let alone marry, someone as sleazy and execrable as Paul Snider. I'm not saying that the real life Paul Snider had no redeemable qualities whatsoever. He may have. It's just that Eric Roberts portrays him without the slightest bit of charm whatsoever, as if he's the evil stranger in children's books that your parents warn you never to talk to.For a movie like this to assume audience members will suspend such disbelief made the climax of the film so contrived and void of any believability whatsoever. Instead of seeing a complex man pushed to murder the woman he loves through inner turmoil fueled by his own pride, lust, and wrath, you see a creep acting like you would expect a creep to act, and a woman who doesn't know any better.Director Bob Fosse also made the dangerous assumption that the climax was its own reward, and no resolution was needed. Although the on-screen murder did make me flinch, the cutaway scenes throughout the film already gave it away.What I wanted to see was what happened after the climax: how Hugh Hefner reacted to the murders, or Strattan's family, or the film director (Roger Rees) with whom she was having an affair. Unfortunately, the movie made the same mistake "Looking For Mr. Goodbar" (1977) did: the climax is assumed to be its own reward, and the end credits suffice. I would give this film a C- if I was allowed to submit letter grades, but a grade of I for Incomplete seems more appropriate.

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.

"Star 80" is based on the book "Portrait Of A Playmate," about the life and eventual murder of Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten. I've never read the book, but if the movie is anywhere near an accurate representation of it, then it's mistitled. The story here has far more to do with Paul Snider - the sleazebag who "discovered" Dorothy, married her and eventually murdered her.There are excellent performances from the two leads in this movie. Mariel Hemingway did a good job of developing Dorothy - from the naive, innocent and shy young waitress who's still finishing high school in Vancouver to the worldly playmate and budding film star. Even in terms of looks, she was perfectly cast. I checked out some images of Stratten on the internet, and the resemblance between the two is eerie. As good as Hemingway was, though, Eric Roberts as Paul stole the show. He developed the character brilliantly, from the street-wise manipulator who may have been using Stratten but who nevertheless did seem to care for her into a guy who was interested only in controlling her and getting what he could out of her, losing his grip on sanity as a result when she finally broke away from him and wouldn't even consider a reconciliation.The movie is interestingly structured. There are disturbing images from the beginning of Paul, having just committed the bloody murder, still talking to Dorothy's body, there are reflections from those who knew Paul and Dorothy (played by actors) about the events leading up to the murder, and a pretty good dramatized account of their relationship and how it fell apart as Dorothy moved into a different circle of people while Paul was never accepted. The most interesting thing about this is that even though Paul is depicted as a total sleazebag, there's a certain sympathy that you feel for him as he loses Dorothy, if only because he was responsible for her success in a way and it seems that he really did love her - albeit it in that warped, obsessive, controlling and therefore unhealthy and ultimately destructive sense that so many of these stories revolve around. This is a really interesting movie. 8/10

I remember not liking Bob Fosse's Star 80 upon first viewing at the theater. First I couldn't get past the actress Mariel Hemingway playing Dorthy Statton. She just didn't do it for me. Secondly I hated the character of Paul Snider played by Eric Roberts. He gave me the creeps from the start and I felt the film just had a heavy weight of doom throughout. Being a fan of Caberet and All That Jazz, both dealing with less then happy subjects I felt Star 80 was a bit over the top. Then I saw it in the 5 dollar bin at a best buy and gave it a watch.Wow was I wrong. While not as great as the near flawless Caberete and All That Jazz, Star 80 really is an underrated film. Eric Roberts again made me hate him from the beginning but now I realized that what I felt the first time, maybe I was not mature enough to understand. The best part of his performance is that you actually feel sorry for him in the end unlike Hemingways portrayal which still left me empty and wondering if this film would be a great film with a more suitable actress. Imagine Joel Grey co starring with a lesser talent then Liza ? The results i'm sure would not be the same.Star 80 is a very good film and I'm glad I gave it a second chance.