Film review: Hollywood Stargirl is a sweet-natured coming-of-age fairytale
Grace VanderWaal as Stargirl Caraway and Uma Thurman as Roxanne Martel
★★★☆☆
Hollywood Stargirl (PG) celebrates creativity and filmmaking, as teenager Stargirl Caraway (Grace VanderWaal), newly arrived in Los Angeles with her mother Ana (Judy Greer), discovers that her neighbour Evan (Elijah Richardson) is making a low-budget movie with his big brother Mike (Noah Taliferro).
A loner whose best pal is her pet rat, Stargirl is reluctant to make new friends — after all, it’s only a matter of time before her mom will be moving on again. But once Evan discovers that Stargirl plays a mean ukulele and can sing like an angel, he’s determined that she should be part of his movie...
Adapted from Jerry Spinelli’s young adult novel, and directed by Julia Hart, is a sweet-natured coming-of-age fairytale. With her mother, a Hollywood costume designer, busy at work, Stargirl is forced to find her own way in Los Angeles, both literally and metaphorically. That the movies help to finally anchor her in place is a touch ironic but also rather charming, as is the tender romance that begins to blossom between Stargirl and Evan.
Judy Greer and Uma Thurman (playing a disillusioned singer-songwriter) provide solid support, allowing Grace VanderWaal to shine as a young woman who is unapologetically determined to live her life according to her own lights.
(Disney+)
