Veteran child actor and sitcom star Taylor Brandon Burns, the epitome of a spolied 12-year-old childstar, is headed for a rude awakening in Childstar. Why? Because of the way he treats people as well as for the fact he's no longer cute and cuddly and wants to grow up too soon and too fast.

While at the height of his fame, Taylor (Mark Rendall) is about to crash and burn internally. He's suffering internally and wants a break from all of the people -- be it in publicity, production, or his own life -- who tug on him and pull him in so many directions. All he wants is a normal life and to relate to a beautiful girl and have a girlfriend like anyone else.

Sadly, however, Taylor has no idea at all how to relate to people. His public relations folks have been diligent in making sure nobody ever sees the broken, angry, bitter and shattered side of this star crying out for help. After all, says one flack, movies are never about people -- they are about the corporations and moguls making them. Obviously, the star's emotional and physical needs come second.

Being a monstrous brat, Taylor cares only about the gifts his mother (Jennifer Jason Leigh) can give him. An experimental filmmaker named Richard (Don McKellar) seems to be getting through to him but must serve as his limo driver while pushing the kid's buttons.

Taylor, who's forced to work on a lame production called The First Son (in which the President is taken hostage and Air Force One and the White House are in the hands of terrorists), is along for the ride until it appears he's run away with a girl, which sends the production into a tailspin.

Richard and Taylor's father seem to be the only ones who care about Taylor. The latter eventually tries to save his son from the fame he himself created. And Richard, despite Taylor's protests to "get that camera out of my face," is about to embark on a film project he never intended working on.

Surprisingly, Childstar boasts tight direction and the characters are well-drawn. I don't know if it was on purpose or not, but Taylor looks and behaves like Macaulay Culkin  with a twist of Mike Sever from Growing Pains. He also projects inner conflicts about the beliefs and values of filmmking similar to those of Kirk Cameron. To enhance that point, Alan Thicke is in the cast, and a bus shelter poster in one scene mimicks a publicity photo used in the hit 1980s sitcom.

My only problem with Childstar concerns the film's inclusion of a terrorist plot against the President. This movie-within-the-movie approach is ill thought-out. While the filmmakers mean no harm in the wake of 9/11, this part of the movie seems irresponsible because of the continuing threat of world terrorism. That said, if you want an unflinching satire and powerful fictional view of the world of moviemaking as it relates to child actors, public relations and meltdowns, this film is worth seeing. And, for anyone with a budding pint-sized actor or actress in the family, it's a must-see. Viewing Childstar might save such parents from a lot of grief. It demonstrates that most child actors who make it have strong parenting in contrast to those who don't.

DVD features include a "making of" documentary and the standard audio commentary tracks.

(Released by TVA Films/Hart Sharp Video and rated "R" for language and some sexual content.)