Hot Docs Reaction: TEENAGE PAPARAZZO

“Hi my name is Adrian and I’m a celebrity…at least I play one on TV.”

There have been a lot of films at Hot Docs that I’ve loved a lot more than TEENAGE PAPARAZZO. There have been a lot that I’ve disliked a lot more than it as well. Very few however, have left me so perplexed as to what I actually think of the finished film though. Perhaps in that respect, it’s a good thing I’m only writing knee-jerk reactions, and not full-on reviews.

TEENAGE PAPARAZZO is directed by actor Adrian Grenier. The fact that it examines celebrity fascination is amusingly self-aware given Adrian’s usual TV role as a flashy hollywood star. The focus of the film is a kid named Austin Visschedyk – a fourteen-year-old boy who zips around Hollywood making crazy amounts of money as a full-fledged member of the paparazzi. The story begins with Grenier getting his photo taken by Visschedyk, which leads to a curiosity about who this kid is and what he’s trying to achieve.

The film has more than a few intriguing points – not the least of which is how the paparazzi are amazingly reluctant to have the camera turned on themselves. Austin’s mother plays a big part, since we naturally wonder what sort of parent allows their child to stay out unsupervised until 2am on a Wednesday. Perhaps most interesting though, is the way Austin changes through the course of the film, as Grenier’s project becomes known, and Austin becomes a celebrity in his own right.

Unfortunately, the film is riddled with flaws. For starters, while the main storyline does warrant a look at our fascination with fame, the film focuses on that psychology a little too long for my liking. Likewise, I think that Grenier might have been better served leaving out the interviews he does with his Entourage castmates. For me, that shook me out of the doc and put me in the “Vinny Chase makes a movie” mindset.

Through the doc, Grenier speaks with many famous faces like Paris Hilton, Alec Baldwin (who fires off the best quote of the night), Matt Damon, Eva Longoria, and Jaleel White (yup – Urkel himself). They all have great things to say, and some of them even seem to understand the entire fame game quite reasonably. Again though, there are too many distractions, including the production itself, which leans this film closer to TV special than it does documentary film.

So yes, TEENAGE PAPARAZZO leaves me perplexed. I can’t completely recommend it, but I can’t write it off either. While unfocused, Grenier has found a very interesting story, and told it in a very entertaining way. At the very least, it leaves me interested in seeing what he decides to film next.

Official site for TEENAGE PAPARAZZO

TEENAGE PAPARAZZO plays again Saturday May 8th – 9pm at The Bloor Cinema