Brenda Starr (film)

Plot

Mike is a struggling artist who draws the Brenda Starr comic strip for a newspaper. When Brenda comes to life and sees how unappreciated she is by Mike, she leaves the comic. To return her to her rightful place and keep his job, Mike draws himself into the strip.

Within her fictional world, Brenda Starr is an ace reporter for the New York Flash. She is talented, fearless, and smart, and a very snappy dresser. The only competition she has is from the rival paper's top reporter, Libby Lipscomb.

Brenda heads to the Amazon jungle to find a scientist with a secret formula, which will create cheap and powerful fuel from ordinary water. There, she must steal the formula from her competition and foreign spies.

Cast

The project originally envisioned Jessica Lange as Brenda Starr. Other actresses considered were Anjelica Huston, Melanie Griffith, and finally Brooke Shields.

Postproduction and release

The film was shot in 1986; however, it was not released for three years, due to lengthy litigation over distribution rights.

When the film was released in the United States in 1992, it bombed at the box office, making $30,000 in its first week. Negative reviews were blamed and the film was pulled from theatres shortly after its theatrical distribution.

Brooke Shields later recalled she "loved" making the film:

I was so thrilled that it was happening. I think in hindsight the problem was that it was never backed by a studio. It was [Menahem] Golan and [Yoram] Globus, and it was all sort of fishy to begin with. We also were the first of that kind of comic-book movie, and unfortunately it took seven years to get released, by which point Batman and Dick Tracy and every other superhero and cartoon-inspired movie had already come. We were originally going to be part of that first batch. I always thought it was unfortunate, because the idea and the cast were both so good. Timothy Dalton! But the direction fell short, and it got legally tied up, so to me it was such a shame. I think that movie could’ve been… It was really fun, and I thought it was unique. And I loved playing that character. She’s still one of my favorites.

Reception

The film received scathing reviews.

Owen Gleiberman, of Entertainment Weekly, graded the film F, stating that Brenda "... comes off as a giggly (if spectacularly elongated) high school princess" and that Brenda Starr "is so flaccid and cheap-looking, so ineptly pieced together, that it verges on the avant-garde. I suspect they won't even like it in France."

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film an equally negative review, writing, "There's been so much negative insider buzz about Brooke's 'Brenda' that you might be harboring a hope that the damned thing turned out all right. Get over it. 'Brenda' is not as bad as the also-rans that Hollywood traditionally dumps on us before Labor Day ... it's a heap worse."

The New York Times' Janet Maslin commented, "This would-be comic romp is badly dated in several conspicuous ways. Its cold war villains are embarrassingly outré (even allowing for the film's 1940's look, in keeping with the peak popularity of Brenda Starr as a comic strip heroine) ... most dated of all is Brenda herself, the "girl reporter" who worries chiefly about not running her stockings or breaking her high heels, and who in one scene actually uses a black patent leather handbag as a secret weapon."

Pamela Bruce, of The Austin Chronicle, was highly critical of the film: "After gathering dust for five years, some studio executive decided that there just isn't enough dreck in the world and decided to unleash Brenda Starr upon us poor, unsuspecting mortals."

Home video

The film, rated PG, was released on both VHS and DVD formats.

The DVD version is available for purchase in two variations; one for all regions and another for region 2. The film is presented in Full Frame, 1.33:1 format, with English Dolby Digital Stereo sound.