Paparazzi DVD Review (Cole Hauser) Empire Movies

PAPARAZZI DVD REVIEW

Paparazzi
(Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment)

The Movie

The Extras

Reviewed by

4.5/10

Liam

In Paparazzi, Cole Hauser plays Bo Laramie who is, with one hit under his belt, the hottest thing in Hollywood. However, his meteoric rise to stardom has made him fodder for those leaches in the media who feed off the misfortune of celebrities. When a member of the "press" takes pictures of his son at a soccer game, Bo warns him to stop - but when he keeps taking pictures, Bo steps in and punches him in the face. What he doesn't know is that there's another group of photographers in a nearby van snapping pics and video of the whole incident. Next thing we know, our hero's face is plastered all over the tabloids and all over those trashy TV entertainment "news" shows. And what begins as a little incident soon blows completely out of proportion when Bo and his family are in a car accident - directly caused by those same members of the paparazzi. With his son in a coma and Bo fueled by rage, he begins kicking some ass - the only way he knows how.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting a lot from Paparazzi. This wasn't really the type of story you'd expect to see Hollywood's top stars rushing to be a part of. Sure, it's produced by Mel Gibson, but it's headlined by a slew of second-tier talent. Cole Hauser? Last time I remember seeing him was in Dazed and Confused. Tom Sizemore? He was great in "Heat", but he's known more now for his own run-ins with the law and the paparazzi - and a certain Hollywood Madame. Then, the supporting cast is an assembly of more people you'd expect to see in a movie like this - Dennis Farina, Robin Tunney and Daniel Baldwin. This isn't necessarily to say they aren't good actors, but that they're just not the kind of people you'd expect to see headlining a movie. The biggest liability (in terms of characters) was Cole Hauser. I just didn't buy his performance. Perhaps he'd have been better if the story wasn't so contrived. While incidents like those portrayed in the movie have happened in reality (ie. Princess Diana's fatal car crash), it was how the story turned out that really got to me. It was just weak. As if. Who was the real bad guy here? While I sympathize with his problems, he just stepped over the line. It's hard to root for the action hero when he turns out to be such a prick.

This disc's special features first include a look at the stunts from the film. We hear about the dangers that may happen first hand from one of the film's stuntmen with behind the scenes looks at how a couple of scenes from the movie were set up. This one wasn't too bad - and it helped that the feature's presentation was nicely done. This feature can be found on the Full Screen side of the disc.

On the Widescreen side, features include three deleted scenes. Besides the "Making Friends" scene (where Tom Sizemore makes a "new friend" in jail) which was really only good for a laugh (I wonder if that's based on Sizemore's real life experience) the others were a waste. These scenes also come with optional commentary by director Paul Abascal. There's also a brief "Making-Of" Featurette (more of a promotional piece) which includes interviews with the film's stars as well as producer Mel Gibson. Finally for disc one, there's the film's trailer.

More special features (included on both sides) include a First Look at Elektra and an audio commentary with director Paul Abascal which, to be kind, wasn't the best commentary I've ever listened to. There's some behind-the-scenes info, but the commentary is filled with too much dead air.

Basically, I guess I'm trying to say that this movie isn't the greatest you'll ever see. At best, it isn't even a rental. It's one you can wait for if it's ever on television - and not even on one of the pay networks.

Features
Director's Commentary, Deleted Scenes with Commentary, "The Stunts of Paparazzi" Featurette, "Making-Of" Featurette, Trailer, Inside Look - Elektra

Video
Widescreen (1.78:1), Full Screen (1.33:1)

Audio
English 5.1 Dolby Surround, French Dolby Surround, Spanish Dolby Surround

Subtitles
English, Spanish, Closed-Captioned

Release Date
January 11, 2005

Rating
PG-13

Length
85 mins.

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