I was not expecting to like Starbuck when I agreed to see it with my husband and daughter last week at the Angelika theater here in NYC. I was expecting something cute, predictable and borderline stupid. And if this movie had been made in the USA, we all agreed that my prediction would have been right.
But this French-Canadian comedy about a former sperm donor who learns that he has fathered over 500 children turned out to be one of the best movies I’ve seen this year.
The ethical issues around sperm donation are complex, and while “Starbuck” touches on them, they are not what the movie is about. It’s about how learning he is a father 533 times over changes the life of David Wosniak, a meat delivery guy with a less than bountiful indoor pot garden, a drug dealer after his money, a pregnant girlfriend and a cadre of brothers who have his number but love him anyway.
Initially in denial and wanting to keep his identity secret from the 142 children who have petitioned the court to find out who he is, Wosniak eventually settles into fatherhood by becoming a sort of guardian angel to his many, many children. He is surprised to discover that the rest of the world, including his girlfriend, does not share his joy in discovering what he has done. Their anger of course is misdirected, for it is the fertility business that bears the responsibility for the fact that there are so many individuals living in this world who are ignorant not only of their genetic makeup, but of the fact that they are related.
This is not a perfect movie. As Stephen Holden of the NY Times points out, other than Wosniak’s girlfriend, women are mysteriously absent – I kept wondering where his lawyer’s wife was – and the families of Wosniak’s offspring are non-existent
as to imply unintentionally that David’s children sprang full-blown from the plastic cups into which he deposited his sperm while ogling girlie magazines.
But its imperfections, like those of the lovable David Wosniak, did not diminish the gentle joy of this movie, which left us simultaneously laughing and crying by the time it was over. My sister and her daughter had the same reaction when they saw Starbuck at our recommendation a few days later.
Starbuck works, I think, because the actors, especially Patrick Huard, kept it all so real. That’s something that will likely be lost when Hollywood does the American remake with Vince Vaughn.
So before that happens, do see this movie.
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More on Sperm Donors and their Children
- One Sperm Donor, 150 Offspring – NY Times
- Donor Sibling Registry – Just one site where offspring and donors can find one another
- All His Children – Atlantic
Sounds like a really interesting film.
Do you think that “fatherhood” and “offspring” are really the right words here? I doubt that most of the social parents of the kids see it that way. Of course it is really the “kids” themselves who will decide who their genetic progenitor is to them, but as you note, the issues here are complex, and one of the complexities is the question of what the relationship between a donor and the people resulting from third-party reproduction actually is.
Sarah –
I agree – but what words to use?
The film ignored the fact that these kids had families that raised and loved them, and that was its major weakness. But apparently, from what I have been reading, having loving parents does not diminish the desire of children of sperm donors to identify who their genetic father is, not because they need or want another father, but just to know who he is.
The movie “The Kids are All Right” tackled this issue quite well I think.
It’s a whole new world, isn’t it?
Thank you for your thoughtful comment.
Peggy
Sounds like it worth a drive to DC to see it. I wish a movie like that would come to my town. Thanks for bringing it to my attention, Peggy!
Cheers,
Linda