David
Wozniak was only ever good at one job.
It was more of a calling than a form of employment. When he really needed money twenty-some years
ago, he made regular deposits at a sperm bank.
Now 142 of his 533 previously unknown offspring are suing to learn his
identity in Ken Scott’s Starbuck (trailer here), which opens
today in New York.
Wozniak’s
donor kids only know him by his confidential alias, Starbuck. American audiences will presume he is a fan
of Melville, Battlestar Galactica, or coffee, but evidently
there was a famous stud bull by this name up north—evidently an obvious
reference for most Canadians. This probably
says a lot about the national psyche.
Scott is already in production on his American remake, wisely re-titled Delivery Man. That is Wozniak’s current job, which he does
poorly.
Wozniak
has also just impregnated Valérie, his copper ex-girlfriend, who is dead set
against having a loser like him as the father of her child. He is trying to make his case as a
prospective dad, despite being $80,000 in debt to loan sharks, when he learns
of the suit against. His slightly
disbarred attorney buddy assures him this is actually good news, providing
grounds for a counter suit against the clinic.
Yet, against his better judgment, Wozniak starts checking out his grown kids,
becoming a sort of a big brother-guardian angel. Some comedy ensues and lessons will be
learned.
Starbuck has a major case
of niceness that accelerates into full scale sentimentality during the third
act. Frankly, it is perfect material for
Hollywood. Nonetheless, it is not so
terrible to build a film around the manboy’s late embrace of responsibility. Patrick Huard’s shaggy dogness nicely fits
the role and wears easily on viewers. In
contrast, Vince Vaughn’s sarcastic persona seems at odds with the gentle spirit
of the Canadian original, but perhaps Scott can rein him in for Delivery Man.
Huard
is indeed a likable sad sack and Julie LeBreton brings some maturity as Valérie. Unfortunately, Wozniak’s brood essentially
amount to a parade of stock characters, aside from the institutionalized son
(kind of a gutsy choice there). Yet, Antoine
Bertrand’s wince-inducing shtick as Wozniak’s dubious lawyer will consistently set
viewers’ teeth on edge.
