Starbuck - DVD

Film: David Wozniak (Patrick Huard) is already 42 years old, but he just can't get comfortable with growing up. He's as dispassionate about his job as a delivery man for his father's butcher shop as he is about trying to earn a few bucks on the side with a small marijuana plantation in his living room. It's no wonder his girlfriend Valérie (Julie Le Breton) ditches the utterly unreliable David when she learns she's expecting his child. But an unexpected opportunity to practice being a father opens up for David when he learns that his regular sperm donations, which earned him plenty of money between 1990 and 92, have borne fruit. Because due to an error, the clinic only used his donations during that period. And so David is suddenly the father of 533 children. Although David's identity has been protected until now, 142 of the children have banded together to use a class action lawsuit to learn the identity of their genetic donor. Against his lawyer's advice, David is quite interested in learning who the young people carrying his genes are. But when he begins to take a peek into his children's lives, his own is finally thrown off course...

Starbuck is a charming French-Canadian comedy that tells its endearing story in a very low-key, sympathetic way. Director Ken Scott, who is currently directing the U.S. remake of his 2003 comedy The Great Seduction, had initially planned to have David have only 150 children - a number that actually seemed unrealistically high to him. But then he and his co-writer Martin Petit came across the story of a sperm donor who had actually fathered 500 children. And so David was then allowed to become the father of 533 offspring. Of course, even though their story makes use of some elements of reality, overall it is purely a cinematic tale. The way David secretly integrates himself into the lives of the children who are interested in his identity is very amusing and even touching at times, but it's also very exaggerated in order to get a few good laughs or just a happy smile on the audience's faces. And since this works out very well, all the dramaturgical and cinematic liberties the film takes are perfectly fine.

However, the whole thing needs some time to get to the point where the film really works well. The beginning seems a little bit tough, some gags are a bit forced and also the characters are still quite superficial. But after the somewhat bumpy beginning, Starbuck quickly turns into a slick feel-good movie.

Sure, at the end the whole thing seems a bit thick and the morally valuable ending could even be described as a bit cheesy. But the way Ken Scott conveys the moral of his story is just endearing and worth watching. This is also due to the main actor Patrick Huard, who makes the lovable loser David still seem sympathetic even in those moments when he acts like a complete moron. This makes especially the finale more emotionally convincing, which ultimately leads to the fact that the audience is released from the movie with a lot of sunshine in their hearts. And for that, despite minor weaknesses and comedic hangs, the bottom line is still a well-deserved: absolutely worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The image of the DVD is very clean and has a good overall sharpness. Here and there the contrasts seem slightly overdrawn, but this is hardly noticeable in a negative way. On the other hand, the strong, very warm colours come across very positively, adding to the charm of the story. The audio remains rather subdued on both the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix and the DTS track. The dialogue and soundtrack set the tone. A few minor sound effects and ambient noise do provide a bit of movement in the surrounds, however. Good!

Extras: In addition to a nearly 10-minute German-language making of, the DVD has seven cut scenes (about 9 min.), some nice outtakes (about 6 min.) and a music video (about 3 min.) to offer as a bonus. The trailer for the film and other program tips from the provider round out the clear offer.

Conclusion: Starbuck is a nice comedy that takes a little time to get going, but then provides plenty of wit and charm for a good mood. The likeable film presents itself on DVD in good picture and sound quality and also has a handful of neat extras to offer. For this there is a more than deserved: Absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp