Romantic comedies screened this year (NO RESERVATIONS, LICENSE TO WED, BECOMING JANE) have taken many forms.  The latest STARDUST comes in the disguise of the adult magical fairy tale.  Initially set in a remote English hamlet, young Tristan (Charlie Cox) tries to win the heart of beautiful but immature, Victoria (Sienna Miller), his one true love.  She will grant him his wish of marriage if retrieves a fallen star – hence, the title of the film STARDUST.  The dust takes on more meaning later on.  His journey leads him to a mysterious and forbidden land beyond the walls of his village.  Most fairy tales involve a long and arduous journey during which the traveller matures. Yes, the boy becomes a man.  But this star miraculously transforms into a striking girl named Yvaine (Claire Danes).  And lo and behold!  There are other villainous types (yes, lots of shades of Monty Python in this tale) joining the quest for the fallen star, for various purposes.  The sons (both dead and living) of Lord Stormhold’s (Peter O’Toole in fine form here) seek it for the throne. The most evil witch this side of the west, Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer hamming it out the best she can), needs the star too, in order to keep herself and her two ugly sisters youthful again.  The script offers a good spill on old age delivered by Lamia at the end.

If the story (based on Neil Gaiman’s 1999 novel) sounds monotonous and long – it isn’t.  Outrageous it is.  The film drags a bit in the third of its 130 minutes, but that is forgivable.  Written by Gaiman and Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn (LAYER CAKE) directs the film with confidence and flair aided by an all-star cast that includes as well as the above mentioned, Robert De Niro as Shakespeare, the captain of a flying pirate ship and Richard Gervais (the British OFFICE series) a shady trader named Ferdy the Fence.

STARDUST gets corny in parts.  But just as the goose bumps rise on the flesh, the audience cannot help but fall in love with the age old quest for love.  The message of being true to oneself goes into overdrive here.  De Niro drives the point home while stealing the show in his can-can dance routine, performed in lady undergarments.

As a romantic fantasy, STARDUST is controlled in its violence, sex and language.  A couple disappears after a kiss on the lips and a baby results.  A beheading is done in good humour with the headless body before collapsing like a spinning top.  The special effects are impressive and used only when needed.

STARDUST is better than all three PIRATE OF THE CARRIBEAN films combined!  And much more fun with multiple story-lines layered one upon another like a delicious cake.