Gold Star (2016)

Wonderful Movie

The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The writer is maybe better as an actress. The story told was overlong and disjointed. Why did the seemingly very acceptable, lover/boyfriend become an assailant and why did his girl friend submit? Why was her new male interest so very apathetic while at the same time being totally available? The difficulty of having a blended family and also caring for a critically ill person was very well expressed. while at the same time the heroine, seemed unnecessarily testy with the patient, her father. And this is maybe a silly complaint but the people who were supposed to be related by blood bore no physical relationship to each other. That was disconcerting. Still kudos to a writer/director/actress for putting it out there. My family also has a budding film maker so I realize what a rocky path it is.

If you are ever having a bad time in your life, watch this miserable movie. It will make your life seem like a great day at Disney World. The movie starts off slow and depressing and then goes down from there. I challenge any guy to keep his eyes open for the whole hour and thirty minutes that this misery is on screen. I noticed that 3 people rated this anchor a 10! What? Is there another movie named Gold Star or something? Because this complete waste of time is a 3 at best. The acting is good so maybe it would be something for a student to watch or something. Other than than, avoid this waste of film and watch Anything else.

It's not easy to make a compelling film about a character who's mired in inaction, but Gold Star achieves that with a thoughtful and moving portrayal of a woman moving adrift through her life until a family emergency forces her to uproot her current situation and make some immediate changes.There has been much conversation among feminist and artist circles about the importance of telling stories about complex women - women who are flawed and real and not necessarily "likable" in the traditional sense. Vicki is that kind of character we're looking for. She resents having to change her life to help take care of her father, even though her life was unfulfilling. She's brittle and caustic to people who don't deserve it. But she's also unhappy and lost, wanting answers without knowing the right questions to ask. As a director, Victoria Negri shows several scenes of Vicki lying in bed, aimlessly looking over her phone, juxtaposed with scenes of her running faster and faster - towards what? We don't know, and neither does Vicki. Her journey to self-fulfillment has no easy answers. Vicki is both helped and hindered by the people in her life - by her family members, friends, and love interests. The character relationships make up the strongest aspect of this moving film. The love between her parents, played wonderfully by Catherine Curtin and the late Robert Vaughn in his last screen role, has none of the showiness of on-screen dramatic romances, and all of the tenderness, compassion, and devotion of a real-life married couple. Vicki's relationship with her mother, relatively honest with open communication, contrasts with the more distant relationship with her father, which changes and progresses realistically as she grows into her caregiving role and they understand each other better - ironically, after he's lost the ability to speak. Not enough can be said about the talent of Robert Vaughn, communicating so effectively with a wordless performance. This thoughtful, moving story is a truly impressive debut from Victoria Negri, who has definitely become a filmmaker to watch.

Victoria Negri's "Gold Star" is a beautifully shot, well-acted, and moving debut feature inspired by events in her own life. A twenty-something music school dropout, Vicki (exceptionally played by Negri herself) is aimless in her life until her father (played by Robert Vaughan, incredible in his final screen role) suffers a stroke and she becomes one of his reluctant caregivers. Drawing closer to her father, her mother (brilliantly played by Catherine Curtin), and ultimately herself, Vicki finally confronts the crossroads in her life, with a little help from a budding relationship with Chris (Jacob Heimer), who's struggling with his own personal demons. Full of authentic details and performances, "Gold Star" also employs poetic, lyrical visuals to frame Vicki's isolation at her dead-end job as well as her running in front of an omnipresent island off the Connecticut coast where the film was shot. Negri has mentioned "Five Easy Pieces" as an influence, and the comparison is apt. Both films have protagonists struggling with personal, existential crises while trying to connect with fathers who have suffered strokes. Vicki is ultimately more successful than Jack Nicholson's character as evident in the transcendent final scene of the film where Vaughan and Negri share an intimate moment, staring out across the ocean together. You get a real sense of Vicki finally becoming her true self, ironically through a deeper connection with her father.