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'Star Maker' shines, fades at end

In its first 90 minutes, Giuseppe Tornatore's ("Cinema Paradiso") "The Star Maker" shines bright. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film this past year, the film examines the experience and journey of a big-shot talent scout as he makes his way into the lives of ordinary people in Italy.

In 1953, Joe Morelli (Sergio Castellitto) arrives in Sicily. As his beat-up truck rumbles into the town square, he yells to the people through his megaphone: "Citizens! Universalia Films in Rome invites you to participate in its hunt for `New Faces In The Movies!'"

The people flock to Joe, and, within his first few minutes in town, he convinces most of them to pay 1,500 lire for a screen test (they must read a segment of "Gone with the Wind" for him). He promises all of them -- with insincere winks and skeezy smiles -- that he has the power to make them all stars.

Within the first half-hour of the movie, Joe's camera begins to roll; timid young men, policemen, children, war heroes, mothers and thieves willingly pay the money, hoping that this will finally be their big chance to get out of town and "make it big." Instead of acting, however, the townspeople reveal their souls to the camera: We see a homosexual man's eyes brighten as he dreams of getting away from the name-calling in town; we see bandits tell the stories of their heinous crimes; finally, we meet the Beata (Tiziana Lodato), the young woman for whom conniving Joe eventually falls.

The film has much to offer -- that is, before the Joe-and-Beata love-interest kicks in. Townspeople's tales add both tragic and comic segments to the film. A young boy (probably no more that 5 years old) recites his lines from "Gone with the Wind," and we are inclined to laugh; this kid has no idea what he's talking about. A policeman flags Joe down on the road -- not for speeding -- but instead so he himself can try his hand at acting.

The stories draw us in; for some, our hearts ache; others have us laughing so hard that we are ready to pee in our pants. All the while, High and Mighty Joe stands over these ordinary folks, promising fame and fortune to them all. We want to spit in his face; throughout the film, he dishes out false hope, and each time we hate him more and more.

But of course, the stories cannot go on forever -- and they don't. Joe takes his business to other towns to pull the same scam. Each time, Beata follows him, convinced that he is her escape from her awful life. Throughout the entire rest of the film, we are led to believe that Beata is nothing more than a mere annoyance to Joe.

Near the end, however, Joe, letting down his sleazeball guard, tells her that she is the only one he's ever loved. As an audience, we are shocked by his words. Hold the show for a second -- Joe treats Beata as if she's the little girl he's babysitting for. But he sleeps with her and proclaims his love? Sorry ... we just can't believe that one.

Sergio Castellitto is perfect as the shifty Joe Morelli. With his cigarette perpetually hanging out of his mouth, and his air of confidence and sophistication, he undoubtedly stands out from the crowds. Although we despise him at first, we are supposed to change our minds about him by the end. This, however, is a challenge; Joe's metamorphosis from a slick jerk to sensitive lover and worldly man is subtle (or quite possibly not even there).

Tiziana Lodato as Beata makes it even harder for us to accept Joe's change in character. Throughout the entire film, she annoys us as well as Joe. Lodato can never seem to say her lines without screaming. At the beginning, Joe sees her as a whining baby, and in our minds, he has absolutely every reason to. Every time she came on the screen, I found myself with yet another headache. While Sergio left his audience believing his "slick Rick" nature, Lodato left us with nothing -- except perhaps the need to take two Excedrin.

Interestingly enough, it was probably even more worthwhile to watch "The Star Maker" in another language. From the start, I began to ignore the subtitles and concentrate on the visuals -- and it didn't seem to matter at all. What makes "The Star Maker" shine is not the dialogue, but rather the faces and eyes of the people whose stories are told.