Netflix has been venturing on all kinds of projects in recent times. The Starling, which was released this year on September 17, is one such example. Directed by Theodore Melfi, the movie stars Melissa McCarthy and Chris O’Dowd in leading roles. Before releasing on Netflix, the movie was first premiered at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival. What are the good and bad aspects of the film you can find below.
Synopsis of the Movie
After the demise of their baby daughter, a married couple, Jack and Lily, go through a lot. Because of all the unexpected events, Jack is in a mental hospital, and Lily is left alone at their home, where she deals with her inner feelings alone.
In order to save maintain their family property, Lily starts working at a grocery store and also tries to get her husband out of the mental hospital. When already her life is a complete mess with no one by her side, a Starling starts bothering her who has made a nest in Maynards’ backyard. She now has to try and get rid of the bothersome Starling and also see if Jack really wants to come back home.
After living alone for a long time, she really wishes Jack to come back home and imagines how it would be if he did. On the other hand, in the mental hospital, Jack is going through a counseling session so that he can get over all the mental health issues he has been going through.
One day when Lily is at the mental hospital, Jack’s counselor suggests Lily to get her own counselor as she has gone through the same things, and a counselor would really help. This leads to Lily meeting Larry, a psychiatrist who turned to the veterinarian. Slowly they form this special bond and help each other with their griefs.
Reception of the Movie
Unlike any other Netflix movie, this drama film does not have any value in itself. It is dry and goes through many ideas, which distracts the motive of the film. Even though they have a talented cast like Melissa McCarthy and Chris O’Dowd, the film does not become successful in drawing the attention of its audience.
The movie mostly received unfavorable reviews saying the script did not do any work. In addition, critics described it as bizarre, peculiar and bad for its weak execution. Even the audience’s approval rate stands at 21% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Cast Details
The Sartlingsmovies has in lead roles Melissa McCarthy who plays Lily Maynard, Chris O’Dowd as Jack Maynard, Kevin Kline who plays Dr.Larry Fine, Timothy Olyphant as Travis Delp, SkylerGisondo as Dickie, Kimberly Quinn as Regina, David Diggs as Ben, Loretta Devine as Velma. Laura Harrier plays Sherri, Emily Tremaine as Alice, Ravi Kapoor as Dr. Manmohan, etc.
With all the reviews and being considered Netflix’s unnecessary venture, The Starings has more weak points than strong ones. Even though there were great performances, it could not hold the movie afloat because of the messy story and a lot of focus points. If you want to watch how a movie can go wrong, you can look this movie up on Netflix.
