Sadly Over-hyped

Just perfect...

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

"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

This movie like some others ranks as one of my favorites. Mariel Hemmingway and Eric Roberts turn in some excellent acting work in this movie. Star 80 tells the story about a young girl from Vancouver & how her sleze of a boyfriend pushes her into becoming a Playboy Playmate. In my opinion (for what it's worth), Dorothy Stratten & her beauty rivals that of my dreamgirl....Marilyn Monroe only that Dorothy is from a time period in which I was a teen in the late 70's to the early 80's ....more modern I guess. Anyways, the movie Star 80 & with its wonderful actors demonstrates how a person can become obsessed & manipulative with a very pretty girl and ...well basically go over the edge. I just recently got the DVD version after my 1st. edition VHS started to show its age so, I don't play the tape anymore. In retrospect, although Eric Roberts does an Outstanding job as Paul Snyder, Mariel Hemmingway not only is Outstanding as Dorothy Stratten, she is also very beautiful & very respectful on posing like Dorothy in her photo shoots. Although Mariel Hemmingway has acted in many other movies, this one & Personal Best are my favorites from this actor. Yes, Star 80 is not only wonderfully acted but also hauntingly real in its storyline. If you haven't added this movie to your collection ...be it DVD or VHS, get it while it is still available. Enjoy!!

STAR 80 is Bob Fosse's dark recreation of the relationship between PLAYBOY centerfold/starlet Dorothy Stratten and her Svengali/husband Paul Snider, who ended up murdering her out of resentment, bitterness, and jealousy. Fosse's unique eye with a camera lends itself quite admirably to this dark tale about the teenage dairy queen employee (Mariel Hemingway) who meets a charismatic but sleazy player named Paul Snider (Eric Roberts)and according to this screenplay, somehow manages to get her to let him be her date for her senior prom and pose nude for pictures in the privacy of his bedroom, which he ends up submitting to PLAYBOY and from there becomes her manager as he takes her from Vancouver to Hollywood, but as Dorothy becomes famous, she clearly doesn't need Paul in her life and the more she attempts to wrest herself from his iron grip, the more unhinged he becomes. The fact that this story is a true one just makes it all the more depressing to watch and Fosse has a way of giving the whole film a very voyeuristic feel...as if we're watching private scenes we are not supposed to see. Roberts gives the performance of his career as the slimy Snider, the player who is in denial about what a loser he truly is and how Dorothy comes to not need him anymore, which he will have none of. Roberts is electrifying here, in a performance that should have earned him an Oscar nomination and Mariel Hemingway is lovely and fragile as the tragic Dorothy, caught in a web she can't escape from. Cliff Robertson is effective as Hugh Hefner and 60's starlet Carroll Baker is surprisingly good as Dorothy's mother. Roger Rees plays Aram Nicholas, the movie director Dorothy becomes involved with. This is really a thinly disguised Peter Bogdanovich, whom Dorothy had a relationship with. This is a dark and sobering drama, made all the more harrowing because it's a true story, masterfully directed by Bob Fosse.

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.