Despite its troubled production & release history and its low reputation, "Brenda Starr" is a movie with a lot going for it: a lively jazz score by Johnny Mandel, colorful cinematography by Freddie Francis, lots of comic-book-style flourishes by director Robert Ellis Miller, and one fabulous costume after another for Brooke Shields (this may not be a great movie, but it's a great fashion show at the very least!). Speaking of Brooke Shields, she's gorgeous with a great body: the director seems fetishistically obsessed with her legs - there are many frames with only her legs in them - and who can blame him? There are weak spots, too: the story has little drive, Tony Peck (who?) doesn't have enough charisma to be a leading man (on the other hand, Timothy Dalton is perfectly cast), and the cartoonish Russian villains are unfunny, but if you're a Brooke fan, you do not want to miss this film. **1/2 out of 4.
Review of Brenda Starr
Brenda Starr
(1989)
Lighthearted exotic comedy-adventure with a gorgeous Brooke Shields
24 January 2016
Warning: Spoilers