Star 80

[1983, Movie]

Star 80: Review

Brilliant and sickening. Bob Fosse's version of the short life and gory death of Playboy "Playmate of the Year" Dorothy Stratten focuses on the machinations and tacky ambitions of her boyfriend/murderer Paul Snider, hypnotically played by Eric Roberts. Stratten (Mariel Hemingway, who underwent breast augmentation for the role) is a shown as sweet small-town girl, easy prey for sleazy mediocrity Snider, who promises to make her a star. He marries her and brings her to Los Angeles, where she poses for Playboy. When she does become a star (a starlet, anyway--Stratten did an acceptable job in one film, Peter Bogdanovich's THEY ALL LAUGHED), she dumps Snider for the glitzy, cocaine-snorting Playboy mansion crowd, hangs out with Hef (Cliff Robertson), and has an affair with Aram Nicholas (a fictionalized Bogdanovich, played by Roger Rees). Snider reacts with murderous rage. Fosse's last film is a disturbing essay on sex, violence and showbiz in a world where attractive women function as tokens of exchange between men. A must-see that is guaranteed to ruin your day.