Paparazzi Movie Review:


Played out like a bad made for television thriller, Paparazzi is at times funny in the pure reflection of its awfulness.

Mel Gibson conceived the film after he and his fellow celebrities were exchanging paparazzi stories, the idea then popped into his head for this lame thriller, which he produced and has a cameo appearance. Paul Abascal, who was actually Gibson’s hair stylist in the Lethal Weapon films, directs the film. Abascal’s only previous directing experience is some television work.

Bo Laramie (Cole Hauser) is ordinary actor from Montana that has recently been thrown into the spotlight with a starring role in the action blockbuster Adrenaline Force. Laramie is new to the life as an instant celebrity as are his wife (Robin Tunney) and young son. After his film hits big and production on Adrenaline Force 2 progresses, more and more tacky tabloid photos and ads of Laramie are published. One which includes he and his wife naked on their pool deck naked (ala Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow many years ago). The focused paparazzi ring-leading photographer is the greasy Rex Harper (Tom Sizemore). After taking pictures of his son at soccer game, Laramie assaults Harper (ala Alec Baldwin did a few years ago) and is arrested then ordered to attend anger management sessions. Due to his known hatred for the supposed “photo journalists,” Harper leads his gain of camera totting buddies to having a boxed in high-speed entourage on Laramie and his family. The result leaves the Laramie family suffering from a horrible car crash with Bo’s wife losing a spleen and his son left in critical coma.

With the help of a concerned detective (Dennis Farina), Laramie is unable to get Harper and his gang arrested or even to get them to stop. Therefore, he takes matters into his own hands by setting up each one of the crummy paparazzi group so that they will never hurt his family again.

Paparazzi has a valid concept that could have been a solid component for a thriller or a comedy. However, rushed decisions and horrendous implementation overshadow the concept by director Paul Abascal. The lame script by Forrest Smith does not help matters either; it was as if Smith wanted to create a credible look at the dark side of Hollywood like Robert Altman’s The Player. The film tries to reflect the sleaziness and the lows that the modern day paparazzi will do to get a photo for an easy buck. The boxed-high speed car crash sequence mirrors the events that led to Princess Diana’s death, as are other focus incidents. The paparazzi in Hollywood that you can see weekly on “Celebrities Uncensored” on E! are idiotic scum and even though celebrities are famous and rich, they are still human beings. The lengths that the paparazzi will go are shocking and to call themselves journalists is embarrassing.

Though Paparazzi captures the shadiness of the paparazzi members, the film is still too cheesy and weakly constructed to be even close to watchable. It is a funny film, but it is not suppose to be. There are just so many obvious problems to the Hollywood scene and circumstances. If Bo Laramie were such a huge star, wouldn’t he already have a group of bodyguards or security personnel to take care of the paparazzi? However, in the film he enlists a bodyguard only after his family is hurt. The film also has continuos dunce moments that only happen on straight to home video movies, such as a scene were Laramie sneaks out of his own house through the trunk of his pizza man’s car, who is play by Chris Rock.

Outside of Rock there are also numerous other cameos, which as mentioned before include Mel Gibson as well as Vince Vaughn and Matthew McConaughey. Tom Cruise and George Clooney were offered the role of Bo Laramie and Kurt Russell was actually at one time attached to play him, but the role went to the unknown Cole Hauser. Hauser was the villain in 2 Fast 2 Furious and had roles in Good Will Hunting and Pitch Black. For the most part he is a decent actor, but in this film his image is more tarnished than commendable. As with the entire film, the actors are not given much to work with, but Hauser nearly suffers the most with his ambitious tendencies and inconsist emotional outbursts. The film also opens with Laramie having a pointless voice over, but it never returns. Tom Sizemore suffers the most with his over the top performance as the paparazzi head honcho Rex Harper. Sizemore chews on the scenery constantly and his performance is probably the worst of his career. Robin Tunney mostly sits around the film laid up as Laramie’s wife and Dennis Farina delivers a suitable performance as the detective on the case.

A practical concept, but just really weak execution in all areas of the production, Paparazzi plays out one miserable scene after another. It gets it point across quickly and after a half a hour into the film, you really will not care for what will happen next. There are some humorous moments in the film, but it is only due to the film’s poor production value.

Grade: D

Bailey Henderson

Made with a callous disregard for logic or believability, this is one of those goofy little thrillers that defines the straight-to-video market. And yet here it is on the big screen! And watching a really bad movie in a crowded cinema can actually be a lot of fun.

Bo Laramie (Hauser) is about to be catapulted into the upper echelons of Hollywood stardom with the premiere of his action film Adrenaline Force. He's determined to protect the privacy of his wife and son (Tuneney and Bryan), and yet a team of tabloid photographers (Sizemore, Baldwin, Hollander and Gage) won't leave them alone. Finally, Bo confronts them, leading to an escalating feud that draws the attention of an alert detective (Farina).

Once the thriller plot kicks in, we have no doubt at all what will happen next. And screenwriter Smith does nothing to make things interesting. The storyline and dialog are deeply simplistic, and yet there's a certain perverse charm in watching the cast and crew try so desperately to convince us that this is a suspenseful and exciting movie. It's not, but it is rather enjoyable in its sheer desperation.

Hauser is actually quite good, making us wish he could get a lead role in a proper movie for once. Charming and a bit creepy, he's a nicely shaded hero who manages to balance his character's behaviour to keep us on his side, which is no mean feat with this plot. Tunney is fine in an underwritten role; and Sizemore chomps through the dialog with barely concealed contempt for the sleazeball he's paying. Baldwin and Farina are half asleep. And the A-list cameos are rather hilarious, given the lowbrow quality of this movie.

As the story progresses, it gets increasingly stiff and clunky ... and cornier by the minute. There's a decent premise here, about the vile tactics of hacks who call themselves "photojournalists" then proceed to tear people's lives apart. But this stupid and violent revenge drama doesn't even come close to making the most of the situation. At least it's hilariously awful.

Rich Cline

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