Starlet Reviews
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
...has a sunny SoCal vibe that belies its tawdry milieu
Full Review
| Original Score: 88/100
Capital Times (Madison, WI)
Their friendship goes nowhere you might expect - Sadie doesn't teach Jane any hard-won life lessons, and Jane doesn't try to rekindle Sadie's lost youth. There are no montages here.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
Willamette Week
Either avoids or transcends nearly every cliché we've come to associate with American independent film.
Full Review
| Original Score: B+
Film Threat
"Starlet" is achingly sad, shrewdly funny, and shockingly honest.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
HollywoodChicago.com
When the film has to get into more depth regarding its characters futures and pasts, it falters a bit but there's still a lot to like here.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3.5/5.0
Top CriticThis is confident, engrossing storytelling, and the actors are terrific.
RedEye
Hemingway's very good at taking a girl who often seems like an insufferable L.A. stereotype and shading a range of values and feelings that exist somewhere in those thigh-high socks.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
Where it counts, "Starlet" ... allows its characters room to maneuver within the potential cliches.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
The film itself deserves praise for its portraits of these two women and the different worlds they inhabit.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
Philadelphia Weekly
Sean Baker's Starlet almost miraculously transcends this story's cornball trappings, with a minor-key muted humanism and bruised emotions roiling just beneath the surface. It's a hushed marvel of a movie.
Metro Times (Detroit, MI)
...consistently surprising in the way it mingles tender emotions with inherent tawdriness, casually incorporating graphic sex scenes with touching moments of innocent human interaction.
Full Review
| Original Score: A-
The plotline is unpromising - young porn actress befriends crotchety old lady - and the setup is underwhelming. But stick with "Starlet," and you'll reap unexpected rewards.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
The film is about as indie as indie movies get, with a homemade, washed-out look that drives home the genuineness of the performances.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
East Bay Express
Sean Baker's amiably oblique Starlet finds fresh ways to tell a familiar story.
This slender film is bolstered by strong performances, particularly from Hemingway (daughter of Mariel) and her 85-year-old co-star.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2.5/4
Oregonian
Convincing performances from Hemingway and the charmingly crabby Johnson and an unhurried pace ensure that Baker's film achieves its modest goals.
Full Review
| Original Score: B
Cinemalogue.com
A pair of powerful lead performances by big-screen newcomers boost this unassuming low-budget character study.
A strikingly unsentimental study in female friendship between unmoored souls in L.A.'s bleached, glamour-challenged San Fernando Valley.
Full Review
| Original Score: A-
As its title suggests, "Starlet" is a Hollywood story, albeit one that Hollywood would not be likely to produce.
