Stars and Bars (1988, Daniel Day-Lewis, Harry Dean Stanton, Martha Plimpton, Joan Cusack) – Classic Movie Review 11,338

The 1988 comedy Stars and Bars is an American disaster for Daniel Day-Lewis.

The 1988 comedy Stars and Bars is an American disaster for talented Irish director Pat O’Connor, who misuses his special stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Harry Dean Stanton, Martha Plimpton and Joan Cusack, and a funny source novel by Boyd, who writes his own screenplay.

A New York art dealer firm sends a young toffee-nosed upper-class Englishman called Henderson Dores (Day-Lewis) to Texas in search of acquiring a lost Renoir painting, in the hands of Loomis Gage (Stanton), patriarch of an odd family, who bought it in France at the end of the World War Two.

Day-Lewis is embarrassing in a twittish Englishman abroad role. Slapstick requires a special art he doesn’t seem to possess. The portrayal would be offensive but then the Americans are equally ludicrously lampooned, leaving expert character stars like Stanton and Cusack with egg on their faces too.

Also in the select cast are Maury Chaykin, Steven Wright, Laurie Metcalf, Will Patton, Keith David, Glenne Headly, Spalding Gray, Matthew Cowles, Bill Moor, Deirdre O’Connell, Kent Broadhurst and Rockets Redglare.

Stars and Bars is directed by Pat O’Connor, runs 94 minutes, is made by Columbia Pictures and Stars and Bars Limited, is released by Columbia Pictures, is written by William Boyd, is shot by Jerzy Zielinski, is produced by Sandy Lieberson, is scored by Stanley Myers, and designed by Leslie Dilley and Stuart Craig.

The score was by Stanley Myers replaced one composed by Elmer Bernstein.

Pat O’Connor, born in 1943 in Ardmore, Ireland, is known for Cal (1984), The Ballroom of Romance (1986), A Month in the Country (1987), Fools of Fortune (1990), Dancing at Lughnasa (1998) and Sweet November (2001). He married Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in1990. The Ballroom of Romance won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Single Drama.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,338

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com