Film of the Week: Stargirl

I will admit, I only came across this film when I was checking to see when the first episode of the DC show on the CW with the same name was going to air its first episode with consideration in these unprecedented times, and considering we don’t get many feel-good musicals compared to other genres, I gave it a watch.

The film is an adaptation of Jerry Spinelli’s novel of the same name, and the first thing I made a mental note about was how I could instantly see why Disney picked up the film rights, because it is quintessentially Disney. The second thing I noticed was the lack of it being a musical, until it showed me the unique way it was including the musical numbers and then I understood why it was labelled so.

In pretty much every musical ever made, and parodies of musicals in various ways also, there’s no discernible source for the music, it just pops up out of nowhere, the characters start singing and dancing, and all is right in the world. In this film, it provides a source for the music and reason for dancing. This reduces the number of musical numbers by a considerable amount when compared to many other musicals. Whereas the others would have a song at the beginning to introduce the audience to the characters, Stargirl waits until twenty-minutes into the film before having a song, and it’s incorporated within the halftime show of a school’s football game. In total, Stargirl has only 4 songs; 5 if you include the short and sweet happy birthday Stargirl (played by Grace VanderWaal) sings to the main character, Leo (played by Graham Verchere); 6 if you count the song sung during the end credit scene. To put that in comparison, Anna and the Apocalypse – a film of the same length – has 13 songs, and even the Phineas and Ferb episode, Rollercoaster the Musical had 12 songs and that was only half-an-hour long; so you can see why I first thought Stargirl was mislabelled as a musical.

This was Grace VanderWaal’s feature film debut, and there were times when the role she was required to play seemed a little too advanced for her first time acting. Her character has the entire film on her shoulders, and at times it was evident Grace felt the strain. But she shined when it came to the musical numbers. In short, the story keeps the mysteriousness of Stargirl’s character strong, but Grace doesn’t always capture what the story needs. Not much complexity was needed when it came to Leo’s character – Graham had to basically nail sympathy and curiosity and that was it, which he does well, and there’s no point in talking about his friends because the film barely includes them.

But there is a big but coming. This is a Disney film, created as a light-hearted family-friendly adventure but mainly aimed at the kids. Whilst it’s easy for me to sit here and state what I feel about the film, none of that matters because I can see the appeal it will have on the children. It has a strong morale interwoven between the story – and rather cleverly, if you look at it from their perspective, the kids won’t focus on Graham’s friends so why should the film do so, too. Just have him interact with them when needed but keep the main focus on the two characters that ultimately drive what the main lesson forward. 

In conclusion, this film isn’t my cup of tea. It falls short a bit, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone my age and over, but I can certainly see the appeal it will have to the demographic it’s designed for. It’s a quintessential light-hearted family-friendly Disney musical film, enough said. 

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)