Starbuck

Time to Grow Up, Bucko!
This Canadian entry to the 2012 Seattle International Film Festival (this review was first posted May 7th, 2012) is a "crowd-pleaser," which is snide film-critic speak for "No betrayals, no angst, no slaughters, no misery," nothing that warms the cockles of the hearts of the artistes; just a laugh-filled time spent with a witty guy who just happened to make 533 deposits in a sperm bank (for money) 20 years ago. (Wait until you figure out the reason he wanted the money!) Through a clerical error, the clinic used only his deposits for a year. (At the clinic, he went by the name "Starbuck" for anonymity.)

Now middle-aged and completely oblivious to the clinic's old error, our hero is an over-grown adolescent, living with a lovely young policewoman who just found out she's pregnant. He drives a delivery truck for his father's butcher shop and mostly ignores all of his parking tickets and any temptation to grow up. Her news is NOT welcome.

Out of the blue, 142 of his...

Canadian comedy with serious undertones
Imagine my surprise when out of the blue this past weekend this movie appeared at the local art-house theatre here in Cincinnati, even though this movie is two years old and I think already available on DVD. I had heard about this movie, and the premise of the movie was such that I gave in and went to see it.

"Starbuck" (2011 release from Quebec; 110 min.) brings the story of David (played by Patrick Huard), who in the late 80s made frequent donations to the local sperm bank (why? because he needed the money! Starbuck? his alias at the sperm bank!) and now 20+ years later learns from the sperm bank's lawyer that his sperm was used on many occasions, resulting in no less than 533 biological kids (!), and that 142 of them now have filed a class action law suit to find out the identity of their biological father. As it is, Davis is a good-for-nothing who slacks on the job (at his father's butcher shop) and not very nice to his girlfriend (whom we learn has just become...

Very sweet story.
I adore this movie. Patrick Huard does a wonderful job portraying the varying emotions of a sperm donor whose kids come looking for him. My son was conceived in the same manner, and we have had contact with our sperm donor, but not with these wonderful results. It is definitely a "FEEL GOOD" movie I think everyone should enjoy.

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