Photo Source: Universal Pictures
Conner4Real loves Snapchat. He loves updating his fans on his surreal lifestyle and acting like everything is ok, even though it isn’t.
Recognizing how social media allows stars to control how fans perceive their lives, it’s entertaining to watch a mockumentary about what could actually go on behind the scenes. In this case, the footage is about Conner (Andy Samberg), a singer whose time in the spotlight is going to end unless he repairs his relationship with his childhood buddies. In real life, Conner’s former Style Boyz band mates Owen (Jorma Taccone) and Lawrence (Akiva Schaffer) make up the rest of The Lonely Island and they also co-produced and directed Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.
Photo Source: The Hollywood Reporter
After the success of his first solo album, Conner feels like he is living the dream. He has an entourage on his payroll big enough to fulfill every need and desire. But when his second album bombs, his career and personal life take a turn for the worst. For example, he proposes to his girlfriend of six months simply to put a better spin on his life, which backfires when she dumps him shortly thereafter.
Eventually his tour gets cancelled too and he takes up day drinking until his publicist Paula (Sarah Silverman) intervenes. You know a performer’s in trouble when his publicist openly admits on camera that she doesn’t like his work. “His music is not what I listen to in my spare time, but it makes a lot of people money,” she confesses. Those are precisely my thoughts about several modern musicians who create music with foul lyrics like Conner’s, but I digress.
My favourite part of the movie was the celebrity cameos. From SNL veterans like Jimmy Fallon and Maya Rudolph to pop culture icon Simon Cowell and of course Mariah Carey, the diva who pretends to be the most humble person on the planet, the cast is really a who’s who of Hollywood.
And their presence doesn’t seem forced or extraneous; it’s a natural fit for a satirical movie about stardom. Sometimes moviemakers like to create films that are jam-packed with the A-list to gain more box office revenue, but their story falls flat and the movie tanks. With Popstar, the celebrities are integral to convincing viewers that this mockumentary is plausible.
For an hour and a half, you can dive into Conner’s world and laugh at the mistakes he makes when fame and fortune mess with his psyche. We’ve seen many celebrities do unorthodox things for attention and Popstar basically pokes fun at those rituals. Where’s the harm in that?