Directed by: Paul Abascal
Starring: Cole Hauser, Robin Tunney, Tom Sizemore, Dennis Farina, Daniel Baldwin, Tom Hollander, Kevin Gage
Paparazzi is pure revenge fantasy produced by Mel Gibson (who also provides a cameo) in which the paparazzi get what's coming to them at long last. The four villains in the film who snap photos of famous people are so cartoonishly vile that we are expected to root for the hero, an action film star named Bo Laramie (Hauser), without even caring that he is as one-dimensional as the rest of the bunch. It's easy to understand why Laramie would want to exact Death Wish-style vengeance on these creeps, but giving more than a moment's thought to the plot unravels everything.
It's understandable why celebrities view paparazzi with a certain amount of angst. However, they also should realize that with fame comes its flip side, which is a surrendering of their private lives to an extent. Is it fair? No, but it's the price tag that's attached to fame and fortune, especially in a world of evolving technology. Are there paparazzi that go too far in their quest for a photo? Absolutely. The death of Princess Diana is testimony to this. However, if weekly tabloid magazines didn't sell and people didn't watch TMZ or ET, than there wouldn't be a market for photos of a celebrity on vacation. As Tom Sizemore's Rex Harper eloquently puts it, "People want the steak, but no one wants to date the butcher." I know what he's getting at even if the quote doesn't exactly make sense.
Laramie is a quiet family man who also happens to be a major movie star. He is even able to attend his son's Saturday soccer games. During one of those games, sleazoid paparazzo Harper snaps photos of Laramie's son. Laramie politely asks Harper to stop photographing his son, but Harper persists which leads to Laramie punching Harper. The scene was a sting operation of sorts, since Harper's cohorts are on hand to photograph the incident. This results in a quick payday for Harper and mandatory trips to an anger management counselor for Bo. How quick is this payday? The counselor refers to "the incident that happened last Saturday" when she first meets with Bo. Wow, that's a fast six-figure settlement.
Realism isn't the strong suit of Paparazzi anyway. Soon, a vengeful Harper and his cronies make it their mission to torment poor Bo and even chase him in a Princess Diana-style car chase which results in a serious accident. The sleazeballs even take snapshots of the unconscious family before fleeing the scene. Bo's son is in a coma, while his wife Abby (Tunney) has her spleen removed. The news of the spleen removal prompts the only display of emotion from Bo in the entire film.
After one of the paparazzo later attempts to chase down Bo on a motorcycle, the guy crashes and winds up hanging from the edge of a cliff. Bo attempts to pull the guy up to safety, but then the paparazzo says things you shouldn't say to someone who is trying to prevent you from falling off a cliff. Bo drops the guy to his death in the canyon below and then begins his quest to rid the world of the remaining three scumbags. How does he feel about becoming a one-man army vs. the evil paparazzi? Such things are not discussed in a movie like this.
The case is investigated by Detective Burton (Farina), who naturally has suspicions about Bo's involvement when the paparazzi are dying one by one. He doesn't exactly give him a pass, but he tells Bo during a conversation, "I don't know what I would do if someone hurt one of my girls," The mentality of the film is clear.
The characters here are one-dimensional. The paparazzi revel in their evil deeds and are presented as baddies who need to be eliminated like pesky mosquitoes. Bo is a nice, quiet guy, but there isn't much of a character or even charisma there. Hauser sometimes has trouble elevating his voice to the level of audible speech. There is nothing about him that screams "action star". But he is soon able to behave like an action star, setting the wheels in motion for Harper to burn while he comes out clean on the other side. How he does this isn't made entirely clear.
Who would Paparazzi appeal to? The average person isn't likely to sympathize with Bo because he isn't privy to a movie star's privacy issues. He would likely say, "I wish I had your problems" as he surveys Bo's Malibu mansion. An actor, director, etc. in the industry may get some sort of vicarious joy from Bo's actions, but he would likely fret at how by-the-numbers the film is.
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