Stardust

Stardust is a novel by noted fantasy writer Neil Gaiman, whose witty and off-beat books and stories have developed quite a following. Although many of Gaiman's works have been picked up as options for movies, Stardust is the first movie to actually attempt to translate Gaiman's tales to the silver screen. It tells the tale of a young man named Tristan who ventures into a magical kingdom in order to bring back a fallen star to the girl he thinks he loves. Of course, it's not as simple as it seems -- the fallen star isn't just a lump of rock, it's a girl (Claire Daines) who is being hunted by several malevolent princes and an evil witch (Michelle Pfeiffer). There are plenty of adventures that would normally be tired clichés, were it not for Gaiman's habit of fracturing fairytales and doing the unexpected. I don't mean to say that there isn't a happy ending (there is), but how they get there is often unexpected and convoluted. Stardust isn't a perfect film; sometimes it is a little too weird or moves too slowly. But it definitely has its moments, including a hilarious performance by Robert DeNiro as the cross-dressing captain of a flying ship. Fans of Gaiman's work and the fantasy genre will enjoy Stardust, but it has plenty of appeal for people who thought they would never like a fantasy movie.
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