I'm a big fan of Grace, and I watched the film because of her. I also think Karan might have a good future career. So, I even found and read the book on which the film is based. The book was ok, although I don't understand its popularity - there are much, much better books for children and teens, that have more substance, more depth and less cliches. Perhaps young teens who haven't been exposed to any better literature enjoy it, and that's fine.
But no matter how much I wanted Grace's debut to be a success, I can't lie to myself or others - it's a really, really badly made film. Being a filmmaker myself, it almost makes me angry that someone actually got paid for directing and producing it. I mean, for someone who has all these resources to produce a result like this is mind-boggling. If I hadn't read the book, I don't think I'd even fully understand what was going on.
It's like they completely disregarded all of the emotional impact of the events in the book, all of the buildup, and just skimmed though a series of events for the sake of putting them on screen. Aside from her meticulously designed colorful outfits, you get zero sense of how quirky Stargirl is (the most important trait of her character), how involved the guys are in the talk show that they're hosting, and basically anything else that's supposed to matter. It's like they weren't even trying to create an emotional connection to any of the characters, because not one of them is even remotely interesting.
Another huge problem with the film is the sound design. I'm not sure why it is like it is, but it's bad. It's flat, the actor's lines are mumbled, and there are very little atmosphere sounds. This makes for very awkward viewing.
Lastly, I doubt that young people will like the film, except for maybe very young teens or children (but even they probably won't have the patience to watch it till the end because it's so emotionally flat). This is because no teens are the way they are portrayed in the film. It feels like a really old person's vague idea of how teenagers talk and behave. There's one place in particular that made me snort loudly, it was when Leo asked Archie "is she magic?" It was so completely random and silly, mostly because, like I mentioned before, there was zero sense of Stargirl's quirkiness or the profound impact she'd made on everyone. It's not completely unrealistic that a 16 year-old guy would as a question like this, but there should be a really, really good reason for it and a serious buildup to the moment where he asks it. Here, it was like: wait, what?
Lastly, for anyone who's looking for a film on a similar topic, I suggest to skip Stargirl and watch "Bridge to Terabithia" (2007) instead. Very similar story, but a much, much more engaging film that will be enjoyed by children and adults alike.
But no matter how much I wanted Grace's debut to be a success, I can't lie to myself or others - it's a really, really badly made film. Being a filmmaker myself, it almost makes me angry that someone actually got paid for directing and producing it. I mean, for someone who has all these resources to produce a result like this is mind-boggling. If I hadn't read the book, I don't think I'd even fully understand what was going on.
It's like they completely disregarded all of the emotional impact of the events in the book, all of the buildup, and just skimmed though a series of events for the sake of putting them on screen. Aside from her meticulously designed colorful outfits, you get zero sense of how quirky Stargirl is (the most important trait of her character), how involved the guys are in the talk show that they're hosting, and basically anything else that's supposed to matter. It's like they weren't even trying to create an emotional connection to any of the characters, because not one of them is even remotely interesting.
Another huge problem with the film is the sound design. I'm not sure why it is like it is, but it's bad. It's flat, the actor's lines are mumbled, and there are very little atmosphere sounds. This makes for very awkward viewing.
Lastly, I doubt that young people will like the film, except for maybe very young teens or children (but even they probably won't have the patience to watch it till the end because it's so emotionally flat). This is because no teens are the way they are portrayed in the film. It feels like a really old person's vague idea of how teenagers talk and behave. There's one place in particular that made me snort loudly, it was when Leo asked Archie "is she magic?" It was so completely random and silly, mostly because, like I mentioned before, there was zero sense of Stargirl's quirkiness or the profound impact she'd made on everyone. It's not completely unrealistic that a 16 year-old guy would as a question like this, but there should be a really, really good reason for it and a serious buildup to the moment where he asks it. Here, it was like: wait, what?
Lastly, for anyone who's looking for a film on a similar topic, I suggest to skip Stargirl and watch "Bridge to Terabithia" (2007) instead. Very similar story, but a much, much more engaging film that will be enjoyed by children and adults alike.