Post by Ronnie on Mar 24, 2009 13:45:32 GMT 1
Eric Roberts' portrayal of Paul Snider in the film "Star 80"
www.markallencam.com/toptenaugust2004.html
We had everything going for us... but you f**ks wouldn't let me in. Big f**king deal! Well... you can take your magazine and your mansion and your movies and shove 'em all up your ass now... LIAR!!!"
So I finally saw the film "Star 80" (1983, dir: Bob Fosse) and I was, yes, blown away by the unbelievably sexy appeal of Eric Roberts through his thug-ishly dazzling portrayal of Paul Snider. In case you don't know, the film is based on the true story of noted Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten, who rose to half-fame in 1980 partly because of her "rage-aholic" husband and manager (Snider), who viciously murdered her in 1980 as she was cutting him out of her life (to marry director Peter Bogdonovich) and rising to even higher fame.
For years everyone was always saying to me "Oh God... Eric Roberts is so sexy in that film..." and indeed they were right. What gives a serial killer or ruthless dictator extra power? That's right... good looks! Roberts' crass, bumbling, manipulative, persnickety, lizard-like performance is hypnotic due to his thingyy, sweet-from-every-angle good looks. His persona in the movie is like an unholy morph between mid-90's Marky Mark, 70's gay porn icon Al Parker, and the grisly prosthetic teeth of William Defoe in David Lynch's "Wild At Heart."
The real Paul Snider, hardly the looker that Eric Roberts was in the role, was nevertheless an urban peathingy, drowning in 1970's trends. Roberts' entire wardrobe for this film is like my dream wardrobe (nightmare?): giant turtlenecks, gargantuanly gay belt buckles, baby blue Michael Jackson-esque leather jackets, tight black jeans, colored tanks, gold chains, snakeskin cowboy boots and a "70's super-f*g" mustache ...the combo has never looked so sickly suave.
I was surprised how good the film itself was ...sort of. Carefully and economically crafted by Broadway-mad director Bob Fosse, ('Sweet Charity,' 'All That Jazz,' 'Cabaret') this obviously non-musical (could you imagine? yes... unfortunately I can) film was his last, as he died of a heart attack in 1987 (his next projects-to-be were reportedly a much talked about film version of 'Chicago' starring Madonna, and a picture based on the life of Walter Winchell). "Star 80" plays somewhere between an average feature film, and a surprisingly good made-for-TV movie. It's dated peculiarities give it an odd, broadcast TV glare that surrounds a perverse subject matter... mixing by-the-book TV movie cinematography and editing with portrayals of America in the 1980's, when it was really still the 70's. The film actually plays like a watered down version of "Boogie Nights," with all of that film's dazzle and only about 10% of it's surprising depth.
Little known fact: the final murder scene (which frames the rest of the film, done in flashback) was shot in, get this, Paul Snider's actual apartment... in the room where the grisly murder really took place. Eww?
Ironically perhaps, Roberts' portrayal of Paul Snider ends up becoming the "star" attraction in the film... as all the character development is lauded into and through him, with Hemingway's character taking a close second. Director Fosse did this intentionally, and is quoted as saying that the Snider character is "...what I would have become if I hadn't become successful [in the film industry]." Yikes!
The kind-of reverse is true of Mariel Hemingway's performance. While her portrayal is great, and Hemingway is certainly no eyesore... her slightly quirky, child-like face is no match for the real Stratten, who was indeed a full-blown, 1970's sex bomb knockout (just check out these photos!). This was probably a smart choice on the part of Fosse and Hemingway, her realness in appearance and shy performance only makes the character seem more real, and more sympathy-worthy. Hemingway reportedly got breast implants just for the film... and the picture contains many full-on nude shots... pretty gutsy considering her career at the time.
I actually had a chance to "work with" (haha!) Hemingway way back in 1995, in an episode of the short-lived CBS show "Central Park West" (I was an extra). They were filming a nightclub scene in the old Mars club space (in the mid-90's meat packing district), and I was playing (surprise!) a go-go boy inside a cage. The whole shoot was filled with all my weird club friends, and it took forever to finish... like till 3am or so. It was really exhausting, considering I was only getting paid like $100 or something. But I remember Hemingway well. Unlike the rest of the show's cast, who would run screaming to their trailers after each take, she would sometimes wander around between takes and talk to all the extras and ask them about their weird clothes. Not in a forced way... just kind of relaxed and friendly, she seemed really wise and bullnuts-less. There was one shot where they had to zoom right in on her face with her looking pensively over her shoulder, right as she was walking out the exit (which was right by my cage). At one point the camera guy thought it would be "totally brilliant" to shoot this take with her face zoomed-in on through the bars of my cage, with I disagree kind of bouncing out-of-focus, around the edges of the foreground. They actually set this shot up, and then did one take, and the director guy was like "Cut!" and then the camera man said "No... we can't do that... the guy's balls are bouncing right in Mariel's face!" and everybody laughed and then some tech woman walked up and said, with a totally straight face "We could tape him down!" and this made Mariel look at me and laugh really hard, as if to say "Can you believe this nuts?" After that she was always bringing me and the other dancers in cages bottles of water and asking if we "...were doing all right under these hot lights." She talked to me a little bit, she was very funny and cool. I knew almost nothing about her career at the time, I wish I had seen "Star 80" at that point, I would have definitely asked her about it.
So back to now...
I have a weird habit (problem?) of latching onto strange, violent, emotionally unstable male film characters portrayed by sexy actors (Deniro in 'Taxi Driver,' Ed Norton/Brad Pitt in 'Fight Club'). I seem to project myself onto them, and sieve my life through the fictional reality they exist in. To be honest, a lot of "Star 80" reminds me of periods, and people, in my past. The scene where Snider confronts Stratten at the end while surrounded by pictures of her on his walls, all the stripper club scenes, Snider's social ineptness at high-brow social events, his violent mood swings and Stratten's not knowing what to do, his implosion after not being able to deal with his feelings of betrayal and abandonment. Snider's despair and rage at his own embarrassment, I'll admit it, reminds me of ME, and also past boyfriends I've had. Especially the scene where a pathetically broke Snider calls busy-at-work-earning-all-their-dough Stratten, interrupting her while she's on the set of one of her movies, haranguing her for access to her bank account for an "...extra $2,500 baby..." so he can buy them a new Mercedes 450 SL they just have to have (which he gets a personalized plate for that reads 'STAR 80') Ho boy... memories... me-mo-riiieeesss....
So I recommend this film... if for nothing else than the rather remarkable and very sexy performance by Eric Roberts. I guarantee, if you're like me, you'll wanna go out clothes shopping afterwards.
