FIRESTARTER. Directed by Mark L. Lester: written by Stanley Mann; produced by Frank Capra, Jr. for Universal. Starring Drew Barrymore, David Keith and George C. Scott. Rated R (violence)
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Charlie McGee (Barrymore) would be a handy person to have on a cookout. Forget the matches? Or did they get wet? No problem. Charlie is the Firestarter. And she can do just that, without even flicking her Bic.
If she gets angry enough, or if her dad tells her to, she can make just about anything spontaneously combust. She's not particularly crazy about this power, in fact she would like to be "just like everyone else." But she has to use it for self-defense again and again as she and her father are pursued by agents who want to harness the power. Or, failing that, to destroy her.
The story sounds good, with the potential for lots of human drama, thrills, and, or course, "fireworks." Unfortunately, the fireworks is all that Firestarter is able to deliver. There are lots of spectacular stunts and special effects as Charlie does her thing with people, cars, even cinder block walls. But the excitement the story should kindle just never materializes. And the human interest angle usually falls pretty flat, because of lack of character development.
A few of the scenes between Charlie and her father (Keith) are touching. Keith does a good job of portraying the concern and desperation a parent would feel in such a situation. But Barrymore was really more effective as a comedienne in E.T. than as a dramatic actress here. She looks right for the part, but has trouble conveying the necessary intensity.
The only memorable character is Rainbird (Scott), one of the agents. He is so deliciously, insanely evil that he overwhelms everyone else on both sides. Martin Sheen, for example, has played some good villains in his day. But as Rainbird's supposed supervisor, he is completely outclassed in his scenes with Scott.
Criticisms about character development might be out of place here, though. Movies like this are usually lacking in that department. Where Firestarter really falls short is in the thrills and chills. It's just not scary. One problem is that the supernatural power is in the hands of one of the good guys. Her pursuers would, we presume, use the power for evil if they could. But with the exception of Rainbird, they're so inept that it's obvious they'll never gain control of it.
We can admire the technical artistry involved in blowing up the cars and incinerating the bad guys' headquarters. Also, the bravery of the stuntpeople who appear to fry by the dozen. But since we don't really care about the people, and we figured it would probably happen like that anyway, there's not much real excitement. Just a lot of heat.
May 30, 1984