The kind of planet we are living on, challenges your decision to be a father. Because its we who are bringing into existence, a living being and hence the reason in the first place, for all the sweat and tears it sheds. And if our children are optimistic enough to consider this life a gift, they would love us and be thankful to us. When the hero in this film finds out that one of his sons is seriously disabled, we can see a set of questions in his face along with a pinch of guilt and helplessness. "Is it me who is responsible for his condition? I can do nothing to revert this." may be what he says to himself when we can see a bitter expression in his face.Given supernatural powers, he would heal him then and there and would hug him warmly. But as a mortal, he is not left with any choice but to stare like that. When he himself is struggling with his life, he came across people who came into this world because of him, and facing the same reality. How do their failures ans successes affect him as if they are his? Why can't he abstain himself from meeting them? "Starbuck" is a film that toys with the above kind of ideas but not as seriously as I presented them in this article, but uses comedy as a vehicle to carry all the burden.
David Wozniak is a not-so-lucky guy who is indebted to people who drown you in your bath tub to say hello. And he has a girlfriend who is highly and deeply disappointed with him. His life, defined and destined to be inside the family butcher business is sapless and messed up, to cut short a long story. And the most interesting thing is that some twenty years ago he "donated" sperm that resulted in hundreds of successful pregnancies. To his dismay, all those "children"(now twenty-somethings) sue him to reveal his true identity. They want to know who their biological father is, but it makes David restless as he doesn't want to get public. But he gets the photographs and addresses of his children and decides them to visit them as a stranger.
We can see flashes of happiness in him when his son rocks the soccer court, a father's concern when he visits his daughter, and the funnier scene is where he follows his son who kisses his boyfriend on his lips! The scenes where he helps them as a complete stranger are so sweet, but they are to be followed by sweeter ones towards the climax. Its surprising to ourselves that even when the film refuses to let go even one opportunity to get melodramatic, we find it still sweet and loving. (The peak point of sentiment is the group hug scene in the climax but it will not let you take your eyes off the screen as its simply beautiful). The courtroom scenes doesn't get tempted to discuss David's choice to remain anonymous and it helped the film a lot from getting serious. Because a film that starts on this kind of a plot has the danger of becoming a laughing stock if it takes itself too serious. The film rightly sails on wit and humor.
Paternity or fatherhood is not just a relation or responsibility but comes as a package of many feelings and emotions. Psychology says that parents see their children as an extension of themselves and hence the showering of love. May be true but sometimes they get partial towards the "extensions" and thats where we get to see fathers taking bullets for their daughters and mothers cutting the bread into two for their two children and she is OK with a glass of water. Of course this film doesnt crave for this level of melodrama, but all the feelings flow as tangents to the story. It is obviously implied that the new people in his life, and the experiences he went through have made him a better person. May be through helping them and being with them, he learnt how to help himself and start life again. "Simple emotions kept simple" is the principle it follows. Its amazing how film makers often miss this simple logic.
The film has its own share of flaws like "All-positive" characterization, tilting towards melodrama a bit more than enough etc. But what makes you overlook those is the sweetness it offers, the wit with which it presents itself and good acting. The magic is that the film, throughout its length, seems to be grazing on the surface but when we finish watching, we realize that it has transcended the deepest depths it can. But as said before, its a bit thicker coating of goodness. All the characters are as good as they can be, and that would make the critics sharpen their pencils perhaps. But lets analyse the film on what it is, rather than on what it can be. It aimed to stream through cute moments, warm hugs and simple guitar music, and that doesn't bother you much. I am waiting for the English version of the film, as I didn't understand most of the dialogues in this French language. Despite language being a barrier, I enjoyed this movie.
P.S:- The scene where David sees his new born child summarizes what this film intends to show from his inside, but that scene cannot be described. Its to be watched. May be thats what film making is about!
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