Firestarter

Firestarter (1984) Director: Mark Lester Cast: David Keith, Drew Barrymore, Martin Sheen, George C. Scott, Heather Locklear, Art Carney
Memorable Line: "I'll burn you up! I'll fry you!"

Somewhere between when the story left the pen of Stephen King and made its way to the screen, Firestarter became a huge mess of a movie. Marred by bad dialog, a clunky script, weak direction and lackluster production elements, this movie is, sorry to say, pretty bad.

The Plot of Firestarter
The film starts off with Andy (Keith) and his young daughter, Charlie (Barrymore) , while they are the run from a dark arm of the CIA called "The Shop." Andy has a mysterious power to telepathically "push" his thoughts and will upon others. Charlie has an even fearsome power, the power of pyrokinesis -- the ability to create fire with the power of her thoughts.

Through a series of flashbacks, we see that Andy and his soon wife-to-be had taken part in an pharmacological experient conducted by "the Shop" under the supervision of a sinister controller (Sheen). This experiment imbued Andy and their child with these extraordinary power, but they had no idea that "the Shop" would want them body and soul to gain control of these powers.

The two fugitives take refuge with a kindly farmer (Carney) only to be rooted out by operatives from the shop. Charlie is forced to unleash the full extent of her powers to allow them to escape.

They think they've found safe place, but the Shop's controller brings in a Shaman-like Indian tracker called John Rainbird (Scott) who brings the two in. Sheen decides it's time to separate father from daughter and Rainbird has his own plans. But the father and daughter have their own plans to excape. The combination of the two plans bring about an explosive conclusion.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of Firestarter
From reading above, you can probably tell that I didn't think much of this movie and that is true. But King's concept and story are ripe with potential that the writers and director completely drain away. Keith does what he can with some awful dialog, Sheen is competent, but not stellar as the CIA heavy, and Barrymore tries her darndest, but the dialog is rancid at times and the direction is by the numbers. Lester brings no life to the movie with his lackluster direction.

George C. Scott does embrace the part of the psychotic mystic, but is mostly over the top. Art Carney isn't bad as the friendly farmer, but he doesn't have a lot to work with.

Summary Judgment on Firestarter
Please know that isn't a case of Stephen King fan being disappointed with a director's take on a book. This is a bad movie. The script takes most of the blame and Lester does nothing to make it better.

My recommendation is to give this movie 15 or 20 minutes on cable and decide for yourself if you want to invest anymore of your time.