Paparazzi (2004 film)

Plot

Bo Laramie (Cole Hauser) is a rising movie star who has finally achieved major success with his latest film. A persistent group of unscrupulous photographers — Kevin Rosner (Kevin Gage), Leonard Clark (Tom Hollander), Wendell Stokes (Daniel Baldwin) and their leader Rex Harper (Tom Sizemore) - harass Bo and his wife Abby (Robin Tunney), and their 8-year-old son Zach (Blake Michael Bryan). When Bo takes Zach to soccer practice, he sees Rex taking photos of Zach on the field and confronts him, where Rex provokes Bo into punching him, which is caught on camera by his fellow photographers. Bo is sued for $500,000 and placed into anger management, while Rex vows to destroy Bo's life.

While Bo, Abby and Zach are out in their car, Rex and his crew drive up beside them, in four different vehicles, and start taking pictures. Blinded and distracted, Bo's car is hit by a pickup truck, and Rex and his crew snap photos of the wreck that they caused. While Bo is not seriously injured, Abby's spleen is removed and Zach is placed in a coma. Bo talks to LAPD detective Burton (Dennis Farina), who says that Rex, Wendell, Leonard, and Kevin each gave him the same story, that they drove up on the wreck some time after it happened with no witnesses to dispute their claims.

Some time later, Bo accidentally causes Kevin to wipe out on his motorcycle, careening onto a precipice. Bo tries to save him, but when the photographer gloats that they'll put his family through hell, Bo lets Kevin fall to his death.

Bo next goes after Leonard, who tries to invade Bo's movie set and is ejected by security while Bo secretly places a prop gun in the jacket left in Leonard's car. Following him, Bo calls 911, and describes Leonard's car, and says that the driver is waving a gun all over the place. Leonard is pulled over and instinctively pulls out the prop gun, causing the cops to shoot him dead.

Rex and Wendell are convinced that Bo will target them next, and break into Bo's house to plant cameras inside. Abby runs into Wendell, who threatens to kill her son if she tells the cops. Burton assigns Deputy Walker (Forry Smith) and Deputy Wilson (Donal Gibson) to provide extra security, but Bo sneaks out past the two deputies and makes his way into Wendell's house and discovers the feed from the cameras. Wendell arrives home, and Bo confronts him with a baseball bat. In the morning, Bo puts the car back where it was at, and races to beat Burton is on his way to the house. Burton shows Bo a video that was taken by a camera in a button of Leonard's shirt on the set of the movie, and thinks someone planted the gun in Leonard's coat.

Rex finds Wendell beaten to death, and that Bo planted the bat in Rex's houseboat to frame him. At Wendell's house, Burton notices the video feed from the cameras in Bo's house and Rex entering with a gun. Rex goes to Bo and Abby's bedroom and opens fire, only for Bo to hit Rex and throw him to the floor. He viciously beats Rex, gloating about how he got his revenge.

Rex is arrested and relentlessly photographed by paparazzi as he is led away. Later, as Bo is preparing to finish up the movie he's been filming, he's called to the hospital, where Zach has awakened from his coma. Later, Bo, Abby, and Zach are at the premiere of 'Adrenaline Force 2', the sequel to the movie that made Bo a star. Abby is now pregnant with a girl. After the film is shown, Bo goes to meet the press out front by himself, where he takes a paparazzi's jibe at him in his stride.

Cast

Mel Gibson, who was one of the film's producers, appears as an anger management patient in the waiting room of their shared therapist. In addition, Chris Rock appears as a pizza delivery driver, Vince Vaughn appears as Bo Laramie's co-star, and Matthew McConaughey appears as himself at a movie premiere.

At about forty minutes into the movie, Detective Burton (Dennis Farina) tells Bo how one of the papparazzi, Wendell Stokes, has previously sued "Alec Baldwin" or one of the "Baldwins". Daniel Baldwin plays paparazzi Stokes in the movie (see Baldwin brothers).

Box office

The film was a Box office bomb, having cost about US$20 million to be made, and grossing only $16 million worldwide.

Critical response

The film was terribly rated on Rotten Tomatoes. It received an 18% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a consensus of being "a crude, ludicrous exploitation movie with a questionable moral".

The film also received a large number of negative criticism from major American, Canadian and British publications:

According to Amazon as of June 27, 2017 out of 80 reviews the movie received 51% five-star rating and 20% four-star rating, or 71% very favorable response from viewers.