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Rating:  - The Underside of "Paparazzi"
Shadow Watcher
Nobody Drowns in Mineral Lake
Having been a Hollywood publicist for over thirty years, I've had my fair share of dealings with celebrity photographers known as "paparazzi".
Most of these photo journalists are nice guys; respectful of their famous subjects whose candid pictures earn them big bucks from various magazines and the tabloids.
However, there are some of these paparazzi whose character and ethics leave much to be desired. They're the ones who will trespass on private property, hoping to catch a famous star skinny-dipping or in some other compromising position. They're the ones who will deliberately provoke a star into losing his temper, which will result in an even better photograph and, possibly, a lawsuit.
Years ago, I was at a celebrity-filled screening when an overjoyed photographer came running up to my group to announce that a major star had just assaulted him. [Thankfully, it was not one of my clients, because the provoked celebrity wound up paying this guy a bundle.]
Indeed, it was the reckless pursuit of Princess Di by paparazzi that is said to have caused her fatal accident.
I would suspect that PAPARAZZI (2004), co-produced by Mel Gibson, was made as sort of a f.u. to this sleazeball kind of photo journalist.
The film is reminiscent of DEATH WISH. It stars Cole Hauser as a newly-crowned superstar of action movies, hounded by paparazzi Tom Sizemore, Daniel Baldwin and two of their cohorts, who will stop at nothing to get a "scandalous" photo, even if they know that story that goes with it is false.
When Sizemore refuses to stop taking pictures of Hauser's young son, the actor slugs the photographer, only to find that Tom's three buddies have photographed the obviously provoked incident. Hauser is arrested and he winds up paying Sizemore a half million dollars in settlement.
Later, after these four paparazzi cause a major traffic accident (ala Princess Di), which costs Hauser's wife (Robin Tunney) her spleen and puts their son into a coma, the actor decides to turn the tables on them in what becomes a life-and-death struggle.
PAPARAZZI, written by Forrest Smith and directed by Paul Abascal, may have a few plot holes in it, but it's still an entertaining action movie that has you cheering for the hero, even though he may, at times, be breaking the law.
© Michael B. Druxman, author of ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD (available December 2008)
Rating:  - Overall it's entertaining; it just could have, and should have, been better...
In a world obsessed with celebrity it was only a matter of time before a film called `Paparazzi' graced the big screen. It seems that the only thing worth commenting on these days is where Britney Spears was last seen and which new stud muffin accompanied Angelina Jolie to the premier of her latest movie. The paparazzi have become the new Television News Anchors, our personal tour guides through the lives of our latest obsessions. I personally feel that when you star in your first film or put out your first album you are signing up for the whole mess that is fame and thus I have little sympathies for celebrity and their "leave me alone, this is my life" bits they throw at the whole paparazzi scandal. If they don't want to deal with people idolizing them in an unhealthy manor then don't become famous. That isn't to say that I don't think the paparazzi are ridiculous and cruel, I just realize they are doing what they are paid to do and I feel that if you are man enough to make millions of dollars a week then you are man enough to have your picture taken thousands of times a day; it's a small price to pay.
But, as this movie sets out to show, sometimes that price is much more than one bargains for.
`Paparazzi' is not a brilliant or even remotely enlightening movie. Sure, it shows the heartless side that many paparazzi today possess and it paints them all as selfish greedy scum, but it really has no depth to it. It is nothing more than a fun film, action packed and intense to a degree. The idea of making a film about the dangers of the paparazzi is actually a decent concept, one that should be explored by a more mature director with a more eclectic cast and a tighter script (hint-hint Hollywood) but until then we have this slice of summer blockbuster popcorn fluff to hold us over.
`Paparazzi' tells the story of rising star Bo Laramie. He's the freshest face in the world of action film and so he graces the cover of every tabloid in town. Obviously new to a life in fame, Bo and his wife Abby are turned off by the constant flash of the camera in their faces, but it's not until one relentless paparazzi insists on getting images of Bo's son that Bo decides he's had enough. A man who suffers from anger management, Bo takes matters into his own hands after his family's life is placed in danger and begins to hunt these particular paparazzi down one by one.
The plot is really one dimensional and clichéd beyond belief, but it works for what the film was aiming for; it's too bad the film wasn't aiming higher.
The acting is really hit or miss here. Cole Hauser, like Bo Laramie, is a decent action star, but I fear that that may be the extent of his career. I'd like to see him challenge himself (can't you see how this `concept' could have turned out to be something much more intellectual) but I've yet to see him do that. Robin Tunney is fine here but underused. Dennis Farina is Dennis Farina; I think there's only one side to this guy. Then that leaves us with Daniel Baldwin and Tom Sizemore who are both horrendous here. Sizemore, an actor I actually enjoy some of the time (he was best-in-show in `Saving Private Ryan') overacts to such an excruciating degree here, and Baldwin is nothing short of obnoxious.
In the end, `Paparazzi' serves us exactly what the trailer promised; a decent action thriller. Some parts are neat; watching Bo outsmart the very unlikable paparazzi is in a way exhilarating and in the end decently rewarding. Maybe I'm just expecting too much from Hollywood, but it frustrates me when they turn something interesting into something commercial just to make money. Sure, an in-depth and passionate look into the eyes of the paparazzi and their `victims' may not make as much at the box-office, but it would definitely have resulted in a more rewarding and ultimately more fulfilling cinematic experience.
Rating:  - Revenge is Sweet *o*
One of my all-time favorite budget movies, with a great plot, good acting and some great dark humor ^o^ I NEVER buy DVDs, but HAD to pick this one up after seeing it on OnDemand~
^__^ Must see~
Rating:  - Well-developed
It's surprising that no one has made this film before now, because it's not only a great idea, I'd bet it's a fantasy that many huge stars have had. Hell, it's a fantasy I have as an everyday schlub when people bug me--or even when I'm in crowds and people are pushy.
The odd thing, with the talent and money involved, is that Paparazzi has the feel of a made-for-television film. And one look at director Paul Abascal's resume gives us a likely reason--this is his only feature film as helmer so far, although he has close to twenty television credits on his resume, plus an impressive list of titles behind him as a Hollywood hairstylist (which causes me to try to remember the hairstyles in Paparazzi . . . but I just don't tend to pay that much attention to them, unless they're something pleasantly weird like Diva Zappa's hair as "The Drill Girl" in Children of the Corn 5: Fields of Terror (1998)).
But as a made-for-television film, Paparazzi is excellent, and as a major release, it's very good. While the story may be a fairly pedestrian tale of revenge--albeit a touch more clever in the end--what makes Paparazzi excel is the performances. Cole Hauser is perfect as the slightly bewildered "normal guy" suddenly catapulted to stardom. Few people can do sleazeball better than Tom Sizemore and Daniel Baldwin; they're at their best here. And by this point, Dennis Farina is such a master of playing both a cop and a thug that I expect to hear on the news that he's arrested himself.
Rating: - Cole Hauser, Cardboard, Can't Act
This movie is beyond bad. It could have been a little better but the script and direction and, oh yes, the star Cole Hauser are pretty poor. There are a few good action sequences and a few unintentional laughs (hence 2 stars) but that's it! Bottom line: Cole Hauser just can't act.
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