Delivering fine acting performances, AJ Michalka and Alicia Silverstone save Angels in Stardust, now on DVD. The coming of age story has a weak foundation and far too many imaginary sequences to make it worthy, but the determination of the two stars help to keep it around par. Direction and camera work could have been better, but the low budget indie still entertains. It does fit into the family genre, but it’s more of a coming of age drama with an overload of sexual inferences.
Set in the Midwest, Angels in Stardust tells the tale of teenage Vallie (AJ Michalka) and her family, single mom Tammy (Alicia Silverstone) and brother Pleasant (Adam Taylor) who live in a trailer village at an abandoned Drive-in movie theater. Truly a dead-end for the three, their neighbors are living in the same no future world. Vallie spends her days with her friend Loretta (Amelia Rose Blaire). Hell bent on losing her virginity, Vallie helps her to avoid the wrong guys. Otherwise she confides in The Cowboy (Billy Burke), an imaginary friend that shows up on the rickety old movie screen that’s the only remains of the outdoor theater.
Vallie’s life gets even more complicated when her mother starts to make the wrong choices of dating, leaving her alone to fend for Pleasant and herself. Two trailer trash neighbor men are always having loud parties with loose women and taking flash photos that keep Vallie up at night. During a ruckus at the neighbor’s trailer she sees what could be a night gone wrong. She witnesses what looks like a body wrapped in a blanket being taken from the trailer. When Francine (Kelly Ramel) is reported missing and Vallie tells the police what she saw, the two men get arrested. Without any evidence and Francine nowhere to be found, the men are set free.
The film works its way through a labyrinth of problems that confront the young teen including nearly getting raped by the two neighbor men. Writer and director William Robert Carey does a very good job of getting fine performances from Michalka and Silverstone, but leaves a lot of holes in his story. A couple of important scenes are never fleshed out enough to fruition, including what actually happened to the missing girl and an unrealistic reason why a mother would leave her children. These and other plot points are left up in the air or in some cases unreasonable.
What does keep the film from sinking to a level of a grade D film is the acting by Michalka who does a great job of bringing Vallie to life. She depicts a teen that has a vision of getting out of her trailer park and onto greater things. Stubborn and protective she despises her mother for sleeping around with married men. Tammy even stays out all night without notice, leaving her to take care of seven year old Pleasant. She believes in what’s good, helping to keep her best friend out of trouble and although dangerous, standing up to the riffraff that enter the protective circle she has made for herself. Truly a coming of age performance, Michalka rises above the drawn-out overly complex storyline.
In support, Silverstone creates a very obsessive Tammy who has been burned too many times in making wrong decisions. Silverstone plays the perfect trailer trash; voluptuous, wild, egotistical, defensive and insensitive. She just wants to get out of her dead ended life and move on with someone who can take care of her, even if it hurts the ones she loves. Although she tops anything she has done in some time, the character really gets implausible because of the script by William Robert Carey and upstages Michalka’s performance as Vallie, the basis of what the film is all about.
Angels in Stardust has been rated PG-13 for thematic elements, sexual material, some menace, language, smoking and teen drinking. There’s a frightening scene of attempted sexual abuse and a scene of a sordid party in a trailer that may be a little too strong for immature adolescents, so be cautious when watching the film at home.
The DVD has very good audio and the video which fills my 16×9 HD television screen comes across bright and clear.
Specifications and additional film information:
Cast: Alicia Silverstone, AJ Michalka, Billy Burke, Amelia Rose Blaire
Director and Writer: William Robert Carey
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for thematic elements, sexual material, some menace, language, smoking and teen drinking.
Genre: Family
Running Time: 1 hr 36 min
Video Release Date: March 25, 2014
Original Film Release Date: February 20, 2014
Language: English
Format: DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Widescreen HD, Aspect Ration 1.78:1
Subtitles: None
Number of Discs: 1 Disc
Distributed by: ARC Entertainment
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
