Starbuck: Movie Review

Cast: Patrick Huard, Antoine Bertrand Julie LeBreton
Director: Ken Scott

A French/ Canadian comedy, Starbuck is the story of Huard's David Wozniak, a man child/ loser who's barely getting by; he has a crummy job delivering meat, which he's always late at doing and a pregnant girlfriend who he's a bit distant from.

He loses the plot even further when he ends up owing loan sharks somewhere in the region of 80,000 dollars - but that's nothing compared to what's around the corner.

You see, David was literally a wa**er, anonymously donating to the local sperm bank plenty, and pocketing the cash. But when a lawyer shows up one day, telling him that he's fathered 533 children and that over 100 of them have joined together to form a class action against him to reveal his identity, it all falls apart.

So, with no other option, David decides to man up and starts his quest to become a father - in more ways than one.

Starbuck starts with a fairly outrageous idea and then turns it into something of a watchable piece; mainly in part due to Huard's central performance. With his scruffy looks, unkempt appearance and football shirt, he's recognisable to many as a man child who's lost his way.

But along the way, it becomes a film about what family means - as David lurks in the background, watching over these kids he's created like a kind of guardian angel.

Farcical and a bit out there, Starbuck sheds its lunatic premise early on to become a piece which is sensitively done, sweetly acted and fairly decent fare. It won't rock your world but thanks to a nicely told original story, it's a piece of cinema which may make you look twice at your own family.

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