The French-language Canadian film “Starbuck” is such a broad, contrived high-concept comedy that it could have been made in Hollywood — and it is.
The amiable Patrick Huard plays an aging slacker in Montreal who is trying to prepare himself for becoming a father when his girlfriend (Julie LeBreton) tells him she’s pregnant. Just then he learns that he already has children: 533 of them.
David (Huard), using the pseudonym of Starbuck, was such an avid presence at a sperm-donor clinic in the late ’80s that he now has hundreds of offspring, 142 of whom have filed a class-action lawsuit demanding that his identity be revealed. While he battles to keep his identity secret and the case becomes an international sensation, he is touched by the unexpected paternal twist to his life and sneaks around doing good deeds for his kids, who are now in their early 20s.
The concept, which has already been remade in English with a Vince Vaughn vehicle due this fall called “The Delivery Man,” seems perfect for a 30-minute sitcom, or maybe a 30-second commercial. But geniality and mild laughs aren’t enough to sustain interest in this predictable effort, especially given the dragged-out running time. Though you do have to give “Starbuck” credit for engineering perhaps the largest group hug ever put on film.