Starring Grace VanderWaal, Graham Verchere, Karan Brar, and Darby Stanchfield
Directed by Julia Hart
Music and Lyrics by various
After those two less-than-terrific spring break trips, let's jump to Arizona for a coming-of-age story that has real charm. The young adult novel Stargirl by Jerry Spinetti debuted in 2000. The book's positive and individual protagonist hit such a deep chord, students in Ohio created a Stargirl Society to promote its views. Disney initially optioned the book back in 2015, but they didn't get it out until 2020. How well do they do with the story of a boy who learns about life, love, and being yourself from one very unique young woman? Let's begin with Leo Borlock (Verchere) in his younger years after his father's death, as he and his mother Gloria (Stanchfield) move to Mica, Arizona and find out...
The Story: After Leo is bullied over the porcupine tie his father gave him the first day of school, he becomes determined to be just like anyone else and hide who he is. Someone, however, sends him porcupine ties every year on his birthday. He's still baffled about the gifts in high school when he's playing trumpet in the marching band and helping his friend Kevin (Brar) with his TV show Hot Seat. He's not the only one trying to hide his personality. Mica High School has never excelled at anything. The football team loses every year, and Kevin always wins the speaking contest.
Enter Stargirl Caraway (VanderWaal), a capricious newcomer who spent most of her life being homeschooled. She wears bright vintage clothing and comes to school with her ukulele and a positive attitude, playing "Happy Birthday" for kids she doesn't even know. Leo is charmed by her, especially after his older paleontologist friend Archie (Giancarlo Esposito) tells him more about her. The rest of the school is wary at first, until she plays her ukulele at a football game and the team actually wins. She becomes the most popular girl at school after that and a good-luck charm for the team. She and Leo even become a couple.
Her success is short-lived after she goes to the hospital with an injured member of the opposing side during the big championship game. Now all of the kids shun her, and an appearance on Kevin's Hot Seat show only makes things worse. Leo suggests that she act and dress like everyone else. Stargirl tries, but she can't stop being who she is. It takes a special gift and a reminder of his father for Leo to finally understand why Stargirl acts like she does, and why it's so important to be yourself, even if others don't love you for it.
The Song and Dance: What a sweet movie! I'm glad Disney finally got to making this. The kids were a delight, with VanderWaal the stand-out as the upbeat girl who teaches everyone around her that it's not so bad to be one of a kind. There's some gorgeous desert vistas too, filmed in New Mexico. I also appreciate the message of non-conformity, kindness, and sharing one's grief.
The Numbers: We open with school band practice and our first view of Mica High. Our first real view of Stargirl is of her playing "Happy Birthday" on her ukulele for Leo in the school cafeteria. She definitely gets more of a response than the school band at the football game playing "Be True to Your School" for the crowd. They get so jazzed, the football team plays better. "We Got the Beat" is the first full-on chorus number, as Stargirl joins the cheer squad and the cheerleaders tailor their routine to her moves.
"Thirteen" by Big Star provides a backdrop for the montage of Stargirl and Leo getting closer and the football team's continued success. "Be True to Your School" gets a chorus reprise for Stargirl and the cheerleaders at the championship game, while Stargirl and Leo do their own version of "Thirteen" at her house afterwards. "I Just Wanna Dance" is the first number as Leo enters the Winter Dance. Stargirl finally convinces him to sing his version of the Cars' "Just What I Needed" in front of the whole school. Stargirl and the kids get so into it, they lead a conga line right out of the school and into rare desert snow. She sings the George Harrison hit "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)" and her own "Today and Tomorrow" over the credits.
What I Don't Like: First of all, from what I gathered, there were a lot of changes from the book. Stargirl stayed in Mica for a year, not a few months, and apparently had even quirkier and more disruptive behavior. It was a basketball game where she comforted the injured player, not football, and she had a girlfriend named Dori along with Leo. It's a barbecue, not a dance, that the kids attend in the end, and Stargirl insists on all of them doing the Bunny Hop rather than Leo singing "Just What I Needed." Stargirl and Leo's fathers were living; Leo got the original porcupine tie from his uncle. Hillari Kimble was even meaner, and she wasn't related to the boy who had the bike accident.
Second, this is a mass of goofy cliches that runs out of steam a bit in the second half, when the kids start shunning Stargirl and that quirkiness wears out its welcome a bit. The magic Artie talks about is never heavily explored and sometimes seems a bit forced. Many people who read the book complained about the story being watered down, and that maybe Stargirl could have done things that were stranger than singing a Beach Boys number or two.
The Big Finale: I'll be honest, I never read the book. I was in college when it came out. I do know the movie version is a sweet look at a relationship between a boy who lost himself and a girl who knows who she is...and how to make others want to find themselves, too. Highly recommended for teens who are also navigating how to stay true to themselves at school and home and those looking for a unique romance.
Home Media: Surprisingly, it was pulled from Disney Plus back in 2023, despite being made for that platform. It can still be found elsewhere on streaming, including Amazon and YouTube.
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