July, 2024 Movie of the Month: Sparkler (1997)
"Sparkler" lights up the night with flawed characters, good humor, and eventually, open hearts and minds.
“Diane Arbus cares about her subjects, and her subjects trust her because they can sense her truth. She found humor in hate, beauty in filth, heavenly visions in forbidden places. It was a book of photographs by Diane Arbus that acted as the creative inspiration for the idiosyncratic and wondrous world that became Sparkler,” Darren Stein
I am so excited for this month’s MotM, the first one ever in this new format as a Substack newsletter. I wanted to pick something accessible, fun, at least a little subversive, and underseen, and I think I’ve found all that and a few memorable wigs in 1997’s Sparkler. This film is full of heart, seedy night clubs, and a denouement that feels straight out of the first season of Vanderpump Rules!
Directed and co-written by Darren Stein (Jawbreaker, GBF) – and with fewer than 300 viewers on Letterboxd, ripe for rediscovery – the filmmaker’s debut feature Sparkler stars a vivacious and delightful Park Overall as SoCal trailer park queen (it’s the nicest trailer!) Melba. When she dumps her cheating husband, Flint (Don Harvey), Melba goes dancing at the local dive bar, armed with a telephone psychic’s (Octavia Spencer) prediction of her meeting “three kings” and dressed to her interpretation of the nines - a bedazzled prom gown and dangling earrings. She meets three younger, down-on- their-luck men (Jamie Kennedy, Steven Petrarca, and a green Freddie Prinze Jr.), who’ve got a flat tire and rent due on the way to Las Vegas. She asks them to dance and Trent (Kennedy) humors her, to the chagrin of his pals, especially the crude Brad (Prinze Jr.). The boys treat Melba as a naïve inconvenience, but Melba’s bright attitude seems impenetrable by their condescension (they call her “sparkler” for her gaudy attire) and decides to follow the boys on an unforgettable, sleepless stint in Vegas.
But what could predictably play out as mindless debauchery instead becomes a human story fueled by compassion, all about examining our own harmful biases and how they might hit closer to home than we’d ever expect. Upon arriving in Vegas and getting ditched at the blackjack table, Melba meets up with her former high school classmate, Dottie Delgato (Veronica Cartwright), who now lives with her lesbian lover, Ed (Sandy Martin), while working as an exotic dancer. The boys grapple with their own blatant homophobia (Brad particularly loves to throw around the F slur) when one of their own cautiously comes out of the closet. By the time Melba’s ex shows up in Vegas with bad intentions, this ragtag group has grown closer by questioning and broadening their sheltered perspectives, especially about sexuality and gender.
Sparkler will charm MotM members with its tender storytelling and naturalistic character work. Genre icon Cartwright’s performance as Dottie is fearless – particularly when performing her character’s signature baton routine! On a personal note, I never thought I’d be attracted to Randy Meeks from Scream, but even with bleached tips, Jamie Kennedy is a cutie pie as Trent, one of the “three kings” who first decides to take a chance on Melba. Also, David Lynch regular Grace Zabriskie gives the film an extra pinch of eccentricity as Melba’s mom. But don’t expect Jawbreaker’s high school savagery from Stein’s first outing (no pun intended) as a feature filmmaker; this is a feel-good picture. According to Stein, “Melba sees only the best in [the boys], and in their own way, the boys help her see the best in herself.” Sparkler lights up the night with flawed characters, good humor, and eventually, open hearts and minds.
Thank you for tuning into this month’s Movie of the Month Club! Read on for the trailer, how to watch, supplementary materials, a double feature recommendation, and spoiler-filled discussion questions! Hoping to dig up something a bit darker for August’s pick, but who knows what the month will bring?
Trailer:
How to Watch:
Streaming free (with a participating library card) on Kanopy.
Streaming with a Strand Releasing subscription on Amazon Prime. (Free seven-day trial available.)
VOD for $3.99+.
Streaming free on YouTube.
Supplementary Materials
To Read:
“Darren Stein’s 1997 Film Sparkler Makes Its Streaming Debut in 2K.”
“Hamptons 97: Seven Questions For Darren Stein, The Director of ‘Sparkler’”
The original, now-defunct Sparkler website. (Be sure to check out the tabs under “Director’s Notes” for insight on casting, music, cinematography, set design, and costumes!)
“You Can Finally Stream Sparkler, The 1997 Queer Gem You've Never Seen,” by Cass Clarke
To Watch:
To Listen:
Wussy Movie Club – “Sparkler (1997), w/ director Darren Stein.”
Double Feature Recommendation:
Desperate Living, directed by John Waters. The antithesis of Sparkler, John Waters’ take on a “stranger in a strange land” story is far from a feel-good picture.
Available free on Vimeo or VOD for $3.99 through Fandango at Home.
Discussion Questions: (Spoiler Warning)
1. Why do you think someone like Melba would marry Flint?
2. Trent avoids his friends’ questions about his history with women. Why do you think that is?
3. How do you think the boys feel when their friend comes out as gay to them? How do you think he feels? Do you think their feelings change by the end of the movie?
4. Sparkler has been largely unavailable on home video until last year’s restoration. How do you think general audiences would receive it in 2024?
5. How do you think the movie would be different if Melba hadn’t won the sweepstakes?