Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

emuir-1 In fairness, I will admit that I gag every time I see the overly cute one-note Shirley Temple on screen. the comment by Daryl Zanuck that they needed to give her something to do rather than grin and wink was right on. He could have added swinging her arms from side to side as if she was running a marathon. I found Shirley Temple to be a very limited child actress with some talent for tap dancing, but her entire acting ability seemed to be saying "Oh my goodness!" and frowning. I realise that she was simply doing as directed and the studio was not going to change her while she was making money, so she was not entirely to blame.The film suffered from casting an 11-year old girl with none of Shirley Temple's cuteness and cheerful face, but who looked like a young Bette Midler and sported oversized adult teeth. Her mugging and grimacing was painful to watch, and the baby doll dresses barely covering her panties were more Lolita than Shirley. Unfortunately, this was exactly what the studio did by fudging her age and dressing her as a toddler until they could not keep up the pretense any longer. Just watch her in Heidi or The Bluebird as a young teenager tries to act as if she was 7 and you will understand. To her credit, the real Shirley Temple got out of the business and lived a productive life as a housewife, mother, politician and later US Ambassador.Ashley was old enough at the time of filming to have played Shirley Temple at almost 15. Just restyling her hair, dressing her in a ball gown, wearing high heels and casting a short actor as her date would have been sufficient. Casting a different actress was jarring. One extremely disturbing scene was the birthday party thrown at the studio by the head of Fox, Darryl Zanuck, where Shirley is presented with a toy car. Having seen the Godfather where a similar scene evolved into a scene indicating that the child star had later been sexual molested, with the complicity of her mother (which was cut out of the theatrical release) I felt there was an implication of sex abuse in addition to the exploitation of child stars.By far the better parts of the film were the cameos of famous Hollywood moguls, insiders, agents and directors who shamelessly wheeled and dealed to exploit the maximum profit from their commodity, and like ruthless hedge fund managers and corporate acquisition specialists today, did not hesitate to drop her when the public tired of her and they were losing money. I would have preferred to see a lot more of the Zanuck, Schulberg, Schenk, and Mayer child star trading. A very small cameo which stood out for me was the brief John Ford appearance. Overall, the film was redeemed by supporting cast and the brilliant dancing of Mr. Battle as Bojangles Robinson.

Snzz999 Child Star was professionally done. The movie had so many memorable song and dance routines amazingly done by Ashley Rose Orr and Hinton Battle. The connection between Shirley and her mother (played by Connie Britton of Spin City) and Shirley and Bojangles felt real and loving. It is a family movie that can be enjoyed by young and old. My family loved the movie. Ashley is very talented. I look forward to seeing her in more movies. She makes the movie fun and she really Sparkles!

eh194850 As others have stated, I too grew up watching and loving Shirley Temple movies. I even bought the whole collection for my daughter; generation after generation, the sparkle and talent of Shirley Temple can not be denied. Prediction: 50 years from now, the same will be said about Ms. Orr...if only people will get beyond the fact that she isn't Shirley Temple's physical clone! Why cast some one not Shirley's mirror image? Because talent like Ms. Orr's, just like Ms. Temple's, is hard to come by. A triple threat barely breaking the single digit age bracket, Ms. Orr had what it took to allow me to enjoy "Child Star" and the child portraying (not imitating) Shirley Temple. The fact that Ms. Orr's talent shone through the mantle of another's personae makes me wonder what we'd see if she were turned loose. Time to look forward to a new child star. Thank you Disney and Mr. Eisner for introducing us!

mermaidhair02 The cast in this movie were all wonderful, but Ashley Rose Orr far outshines them all. She was adorable and she truly captured Shirley in her performance. She may not have been Shirley's twin but she did wonderful playing her as on screen and off screen Shirley. Loved the dance scenes. The girl who played Shirley at age 3 was absolutely adorable. I didn't care much for the older Shirley, played by Emily Hart. She looked nothing like Shirley or even Ashley Rose Orr. Emily would be better in more modern movies. A better older Shirley could have been found, or I think Ashley Rose Orr could have done it fine with some help from makeup and hair, etc. Overall Ashley Rose Orr was very entertaining and I'd love to see her on the screen again, whether big screen or small screen!