“Starbuck,” a high-concept French Canadian comedy that has a
story better suited for a 60-minute running time rather than 109, has mild
laughs and likeability, but that’s not enough to sustain interest. The amiable
Patrick Huard plays an aging slacker in Montreal who is trying to prepare
himself for becoming a father when his girlfriend Valerie (Julie Le Breton)
tells him she’s pregnant. At the same time, he learns that he already has
children: 533 of them. It seems that Dave (Huard), using the pseudonym of
Starbuck, made several donations to a sperm donor clinic in the late 80s and he
how has hundreds of offspring, 142 of which have filed a class-action lawsuit
demanding that his identity be revealed. While he battles to keep his identity
a secret, he discovers that he has unexpected paternal concern so he sneaks
around doing good deeds for his kids, who are in their early 20s.
With the exception of Valerie, female characters are all but
absent in this movie, which doesn’t even acknowledge the existence of the
plaintiff’s birth mothers. Shamelessly sentimental already, director Ken Scott
just keeps piling on the mush until we get to the enormous group hug at the
end. “Starbuck” has already been remade in English with Vince Vaughn called “The
Delivery Man” due out in the fall. I can only imagine how slap-sticky it’s
going to be and I have to admit I don’t like Vince Vaughn so I’ll probably skip
that movie. Subtitles. 3/25/13
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