Film Review: Firestarter
Film: Firestarter (1984). Young Actress: Drew Barrymore, 8.
You've probably heard of Firestarter: it was one of little Drew Barrymore's first lead roles, after she shot to stardom for her supporting role in E.T. Here she plays Charlie, a little girl with extremely powerful pyrokinesis, hunted by a group of government agents who want to study her power, use her in enemy warfare, then kill her. These bad guys have already killed Charlie's mother, and when the film begins, she's on the run with her only protector, her father Andy (David Keith, Secret of the Andes).
Although the premise grabbed my attention, I don't have many good things to say about Firestarter. The first half of the film, when Charlie and Andy are still on the run, is much better than the second half; after they're captured, boy, do things get boring. The dialogue is melodramatic, the pacing is rushed and awkward, and the characters are undeveloped and often act illogically. There are also some glaring inconsistencies as to just how powerful Charlie's pyrokinesis is and how well she can control it. I imagine this movie was probably better by '80s standards and hasn't aged well. The only good thing about it was the impressive acting from David Keith, George C. Scott (as Rayburn, the leader of the bad guys, who obsessively wants the government to give Charlie to him once they're done with her), and especially Drew. The three of them carry the movie and make it watchable.
Click to viewCharlie gets captured by the bad guys
Drew's round, chubby face made her a supremely adorable little girl; she was perhaps cuter than any child actress I've seen. For me, probably the most interesting thing about Firestarter is the contrast of Charlie's innocent, cutie-pie appearance and the very intense situations that she faces: accidentally setting her mother on fire, getting shot with a tranquilizer gun and captured by the bad guys (which is probably the film's most shocking scene), cursing, watching her beloved father die, and then burning everyone in sight to a crisp to avenge his death and save her own life. But while this contrast is interesting, it doesn't always work. When Charlie threatens one agent with, "I'll burn you up, you bastard!" I couldn't help thinking how... wrong it sounded.
Charlie's position is an unusual one. With the ability to literally set the world on fire, she's hardly the child in peril so commonly played by young actresses (Heather O'Rourke in Poltergeist -- a role that Drew auditioned for -- is a good example). But despite her powers, Charlie is still very much an normal little girl; she has no desire to hurt others and agonizes over every fire she causes, even though she only does it in self-defense. She is both helpless and dangerous. There's definite shock value in this film, especially in Rayburn's insistence that the government hand Charlie over to him. (But if it's any comfort, his intentions are those of a madman, not some pervert; he believes that killing Charlie himself, quickly and painlessly, will transfer her powers to him.) But I feel that Firestarter confronts Charlie's youth and vulnerability, rather than exploiting it, and doesn't cross the line into shallow shock value.
The film is far from perfect, but Drew is excellent as Charlie, and the fact that she was one of the biggest child stars ever (who then performed the near-impossible feat of aging into a successful adult star!) make Firestarter one that deserves to be seen.
For screenshots and a second opinion, here's the review by Young Actress Reviews.