Firestarter

Starring: Drew Barrymore, David Keith, Freddie Jones, Heather Locklear, Martin Sheen, George C. Scott, Art Carney, Louise Fletcher
Directed by: Mark L. Lester
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Horror, Science Fiction
1984

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A pyrokinetic girl (Drew Barrymore) and her father (David Keith) go on the run from shadowy government agents.

Review:

Tim: It's always fun watching adaptations of Stephen King's work, although the results have been a mixed bag. There's some terrific Stephen King movies, but there's quite a few that don't meet our expectations. While there's some worthwhile elements in Firestarter, the movie as a whole is a letdown. It's okay, but far too forgettable.

I genuinely enjoyed the basic premise of the film. Two people participate in an experiment that gives them telepathic abilities. They have a daughter, who is pyrokinetic and somewhat psychic. There's a shadowy governmental organization determined to find the little girl and turn her into a weapon. That's a bit of a heady, fun set up. It was fun to see this story being told on screen. I loved the contrast of an innocent, naive little girl who has this frighteningly destructive power to set things ablaze. The gentleness paired with the ferocity made for a fascinating character. You do wonder what would happen if a child possessed such powerful, dangerous powers. Could they control it? Would they use it for our benefit or our destruction? You can understand how the government would be concerned about it. While the government is a little too stereotypical in its villainous role here, you can kind of buy the story.

One of the best elements of the film was the portrayal of the pyrokinetic ability. For a film in the early 1980s, the explosions and fireballs were very well done. Those scenes were quite strong and you could almost feel the heat from them. There's a few moments where the visual effects don't live up to snuff, but the use of so many practical fire effects was a great one. I thoroughly enjoyed those visual sequences.

You also have to be impressed with the cast, overall. Drew Barrymore was such a talented child actress. She works really well in this role. It was fun seeing her play this little girl, but she was equally as believable when the wind is blowing her hair back and she unleashes her power. The movie is better because of Barrymore. I also loved seeing Martin Sheen and George C. Scott in supporting roles. I wish Sheen had more to do, but he's a good actor and added to the film. I was a little surprised Scott played this role, but he did a very good job with it- he was believable and called upon to do quite a few different things. He was strong as the "friendly orderly" as well as a sinister psychopath. David Keith was pretty weak as Barrymore's father. He's just not a great actor and that shows. It was fun seeing Heather Locklear, although she didn't have much to do. Still, this is a film with Barrymore, Sheen, Scott, and smaller roles by Art Carney and Louise Fletcher- the cast is quite strong.

Now, while there are some terrific fire-focused scenes, too many sequences in this film weren't strong enough. In between the impressive visuals, the story doesn't quite hold our attention as tightly as it needed to. It was fine, but you never really develop authentic feelings for the characters or get too engrossed in their story. Director Mark L. Lester just didn't have the talent to elevate this movie beyond a B-level feel.

Stephen King generally has good ideas, so this film benefited from leveraging the source material. However, despite a solid cast and strong visuals, the story and characters don't quite hold up. You can do far worse than this film, but it always felt like a lower level effort. Firestarter is an okay movie, but miles and miles away from the best King adaptations.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Carrie, The Shining, Cujo, The Dead Zone