Would you make friends with a star? I mean an actual star. Not a celebrity, but a scorching mass of light-emitting interstellar gas. Yes that sort of star. Well, would you? Of course not, because as far as most of us are concerned – the sheer logistics of such a friendship just dont bear thinking about.
Such common sense is a million miles from the thoughts of seven-year-old Laura, however, when she sees just such a star plummeting from the night sky. Its a welcome break from the norm for our lead sprog, whos having a pretty miserable time of it after being moved out of her cherished countryside home to live in a top-floor apartment in the big city. So she hurries downstairs, finds the star in question, and uses rudimentary First Aid to nurse the pointy little fellah back to health.
Before long, the pair have become the best of buddies but, as predicted, theyre not exactly perfectly suited to each other. For one thing, the star cannot survive if it remains on Earth, and for another, Laura risks having her entire face scorched off with every passing second she spends in its company. Told you it would never work. Stars do NOT make suitable friends, kids.
Based on the kiddies book by Klaus Baumgart and brought to the screen by the German uber-animators behind The Little Polar Bear, Lauras Star arrives on UK screens with English dialogue tenuously-dubbed over the top of the original version. It features a polished soundtrack by Nick Glennie-Smith and the ever-prolific Hans Zimmer, and the colourful characters and backgrounds make for pleasant viewing but pleasant is really all this film is. And, in fairness, if youre a seven-year-old girlie then that might be all youre looking for but everyone else in the family should be prepared for a less-than-exhilarating 80 minutes.