‘Stars at Noon’
Two stars
The sexually charged but convoluted and repetitive political thriller “Stars at Noon” is a classic example of a greatly talented young actor in the wrong role, with the usually brilliant Margaret Qualley miscast as a world-weary, deeply cynical, manipulative and ethically dubious journalist navigating the murky waters of Covid-stricken Nicaragua. We’re supposed to believe Qualley’s Trish is a battle-hardened veteran of tumultuous times who can work a back room with the best of ’em, but the 27-year-old Qualley looks even younger than that, and bounces around the streets and alleys of Managua like a graduate student whose biggest concern is running out of Mommy and Daddy’s money.
Directed by the masterful stylist Claire Denis (“Chocolat,” “Beau Travail,” “The Intruder”) and based on the 1986 novel by Denis Johnson, “Stars at Noon” is set in present day, but other than the touches of modern technology, it has the look and feel of early 1980s films such as “Under Fire” and “The Year of Living Dangerously.” What it doesn’t have is the gravitas, the sense of urgency, and the movie-star power of those movies.
Qualley’s Trish is a petulant operator from Washington, D.C., who calls herself a journalist but hasn’t done any meaningful work in a long time, if ever. (John C. Reilly has a video chat cameo as an American editor who tells Trish to stop pestering him because he has no interest in her story pitches, and by the way, she’s not really even a journalist.)
Trish spends her days chugging rum and charging $50 in American dollars (which are increasingly hard to come by in the fragile local economy) for sexual trysts with the likes of a police sub-lieutenant (Nick Romano) she openly loathes, and the Vice-Minister of Tourism (Stephan Proaño), who is fond of Trish but tells her she’s reached the end of the line for any special treatment or favors.
Then there’s the dashing Brit in a white linen suit: one Daniel DeHaven (Joe Alwyn), who is staying at the poshest hotel in town and tells Trish he’s a consultant for an oil company, and oh, he’s married but “I commit adultery often.” (That line sounds even stiffer than it reads.) Daniel and Trish become intertwined on a number of levels, neither ever completely trusting the other, and cinematographer Éric Gautier provides some lush and gorgeous visuals in a number of steamy sex scenes.
The problem is when Trish and Daniel get dressed and find themselves making a run for it, for reasons never fully explained. For that matter, we never really find out anything about Trish’s background in the States, why she ended up here and why she alternates between some incredibly smart and savvy insights, and world-class naivete, especially when it comes to Daniel, who comes across as a duplicitous cipher and not someone you’d be willing to risk everything for, especially with him being married and a liar and all. “Stars at Noon” is all sweaty style with very little true substance.
