StarStruck Reviews - Portrait Reviews

StarStruck
Review by: Amanda
Proofread by: Elizabeth


When her family goes to visit her grandparents in Los Angeles, Jessica (Danielle Campbell) is not exactly thrilled. She just wants to visit her grandparents and get through the trip without too many fights with her sibling, but her annoying older sister Sarah (Maggie Castle) has other plans—namely tracking singer Christopher Wilde's (Sterling Knight) every move. Though Jessica strikes a deal with Sarah, events get out of hand when she and Christopher literally run into one another and have to spend the weekend avoiding paparazzi. First impressions aside, the two of them start to genuinely care for one another, at least until Jessica has to go home to Michigan.

I have one big problem with this movie: Jessica is really hard to like. While I understand that she finds her sister annoying and is unimpressed with celebrities, she is just so antagonistic. Even when people are trying to be nice to her, she is never really understanding. She throws out sarcastic comments and verbal barbs without a second thought. It's as though nothing in her life can make her happy, and she doesn't seem to care about anyone but herself. This attitude is rarely dropped. On the scarce occasion that she does show a softer side, it doesn't last long. It makes the character incredibly unbalanced, and I wish the movie had done a better job of making her more sympathetic, because she is a character you should be rooting for.

On the other hand, the character you would expect to go through a big transformation, mega star Christopher Wilde, is the most likable character in the entire movie. He cares about his friends. He works hard. He doesn't relish the spotlight. Most importantly, he puts up with Jessica. He finds her acerbic nature kind of refreshing, and maybe amusing. When she finally pushes him too far with her quips and he snaps back, you kind of have to wonder what took him so long.

This movie is cute, but I don't think it's quite on par with some of the Disney Channel's previous ventures. If nothing else, it's a great vehicle for Sterling Knight and Danielle Campbell. Sterling shows that he has the chops to play the lead, and Danielle demonstrates a lot of promise for her first role ever.