It's surprising that no one has made this film before now, because it's not only a great idea, I'd bet it's a fantasy that many huge stars have had. Hell, it's a fantasy I have as an everyday schlub when people bug me--or even when I'm in crowds and people are pushy.
The odd thing, with the talent and money involved, is that Paparazzi has the feel of a made-for-television film. And one look at director Paul Abascal's resume gives us a likely reason--this is his only feature film as helmer so far, although he has close to twenty television credits on his resume, plus an impressive list of titles behind him as a Hollywood hairstylist (which causes me to try to remember the hairstyles in Paparazzi . . . but I just don't tend to pay that much attention to them, unless they're something pleasantly weird like Diva Zappa's hair as "The Drill Girl" in Children of the Corn 5: Fields of Terror (1998)).
But as a made-for-television film, Paparazzi is excellent, and as a major release, it's very good. While the story may be a fairly pedestrian tale of revenge--albeit a touch more clever in the end--what makes Paparazzi excel is the performances. Cole Hauser is perfect as the slightly bewildered "normal guy" suddenly catapulted to stardom. Few people can do sleazeball better than Tom Sizemore and Daniel Baldwin; they're at their best here. And by this point, Dennis Farina is such a master of playing both a cop and a thug that I expect to hear on the news that he's arrested himself.
The odd thing, with the talent and money involved, is that Paparazzi has the feel of a made-for-television film. And one look at director Paul Abascal's resume gives us a likely reason--this is his only feature film as helmer so far, although he has close to twenty television credits on his resume, plus an impressive list of titles behind him as a Hollywood hairstylist (which causes me to try to remember the hairstyles in Paparazzi . . . but I just don't tend to pay that much attention to them, unless they're something pleasantly weird like Diva Zappa's hair as "The Drill Girl" in Children of the Corn 5: Fields of Terror (1998)).
But as a made-for-television film, Paparazzi is excellent, and as a major release, it's very good. While the story may be a fairly pedestrian tale of revenge--albeit a touch more clever in the end--what makes Paparazzi excel is the performances. Cole Hauser is perfect as the slightly bewildered "normal guy" suddenly catapulted to stardom. Few people can do sleazeball better than Tom Sizemore and Daniel Baldwin; they're at their best here. And by this point, Dennis Farina is such a master of playing both a cop and a thug that I expect to hear on the news that he's arrested himself.