Paparazzi tells the fictional tale of a rising young movie star who is harassed and assaulted by a group of paparazzi (celebrity photographers) who go too far. It is an action thriller about an aspect of the movie industry that the famous try to avoid. Considering that the death of Princess Diana was blamed on paparazzi, I am surprised a movie like this was not made sooner.
Cole Hauser (2 Fast 2 Furious, Dazed and Confused) stars as a new action star named Beau Laramie. He's an all-American guy from a small town in Minnesota and he landed a lucky movie role that shot him to fame. Being that he is the hottest new thing on the big screen, the paparazzi are all over him. Beau doesn't mind being photographed, but when they start taking pictures of his family, he does everything, and I do mean everything, to put a stop to it. Robin Tunney (Empire Records, The Craft) stars as his wife.
One night after a big movie premier, a group of overzealous paparazzi follow Beau home and surround his vehicle while blinding him with their cameras. When Beau slams on his brakes to get out of their way, a large truck strikes his car. The accident puts his young son into a coma and causes his wife to get her spleen removed. Before calling the police, the paparazzi take photos of Beau and his family as they lay injured in the car. After the accident, the police begin an investigation into what happened. When the paparazzi involved start dying off one by one under very mysterious circumstances, the lead investigator (real life ex-cop Dennis Farina) gets a little suspicious.
Tom Sizemore (Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down) is the leader of the paparazzi and about as heartless as they come. He makes a living by harassing celebrities and then filing a lawsuit when they fight back. He and the rest of his crew are all ex-cons, which is no surprise since you have to be a criminal to pull some of the privacy invasion tactics that the real life paparazzi do. To them, offenses like trespassing or breaking and entering are all part of the job. The right picture can get them so much money that they consider it worth the risk.
Since this is a movie about the movie industry, there are several great cameos equally dispersed throughout the film. Mel Gibson was a producer on this and he shows up on screen for just a second, so keep an eye out. Cole Hauser, who I've liked since Dazed and Confused, did really well in his role. His career has been steadily going uphill and this is his first leading role. Dennis Farina is great as the investigator on the case and his best parts are when he stares at certain characters, obviously analyzing and judging them. Tom Sizemore is completely evil in his role, though I thought some of his lines were a bit over the top. In real life, he recently got sentenced to almost two years in prison for violating his probation by failing many drug tests, and his character acts so spastic that he actually looks like he's on cocaine.
Paparazzi is only about 80 minutes long, so the conflict and resolution come pretty quick. I really enjoyed this movie, though the believability of some parts were questionable. I wish that it offered some more inside information on how the paparazzi operate and maybe even gave some idea of the extent they go to for their photos. I’ve seen documentaries on them before, but this movie would have been a great opportunity to smear them a little more. I think what they do is absolutely criminal and I love to hear stories about celebrities beating them. Not too long ago, Cameron Diaz gave one of them a personal demonstration of her kickboxing skills when he jumped out of nowhere to take her picture.
If you want a well done revenge thriller that won't make you think too hard, check this one out.
Action film superstar Bo Laramie (Cole Hauser) seems to have it all: beautiful wife, adoring son and a Malibu beach house. But his newfound fame comes...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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