Simone

Andrew Niccole's relishing and original take on modern celeb worship is a unique cinematic experience. The basic plot is very interesting and the screenplay is awesome. Some of the scenes (like "I am pig" or the second TV interview) carry the actual message of the film quite strongly but the film never denies the fact that it's meant primarily to be a comedy film. It has got a brilliant cast from Al Pacino, Katherine Keener to even Evan Rachel Wood. Winona Ryder is also excellent in her cameo. But what really fascinated me is its ending. One can never predict how it turns out in the end. Highly recommended for everyone who's seeking new concepts in the recent movies.

If we analyze the role of this movie under today's influencers power and upcoming AI changes, we can be seeing a movie that was many years into the future. This one is aging really good.

Today's influencers are these empty shells that amass millions of followers and views but no one really know what or who is behind them, everything can be faked, can be simulated and is there only for the screen. I really recommend this movie as an exercise of futurism around marketing concepts. It is well acted and becomes quit interesting. Robert de niro role is top quality and the beauty of simone is superb. Recommend watching it.

The cult of celebrity is brilliantly examined in Andrew Niccol's `Simone.' Al Pacino plays a washed-up `art film' director who is fed up with the spoiled leading ladies with whom he has to work. After his latest leading lady (Winona Ryder in an excellent performance) walks out before the end of production, Pacino is left with an unreleasable film. He is approached by an adoring fan, a `computer geek' dying from cancer, who offers him a solution to his difficulties. Pacino rejects the offer, but the geek sends him a computer disk containing `Simulation One.' When Pacino activates the disk, up pops a stunningly beautiful female,' who is a programmable simulation. Pacino adds personality ingredients from famous actresses of the past, and, viola, `Simone' is created.

Inserting Simone's image and voice into Ryder's footage, Pacino completes his film. However, Pacino's work is overshadowed by his creation. Simone becomes a world famous celebrity, a cult goddess.

Combining the cult celebrity of Garbo, Princess Di, Farrah Fawcett and Pamela Anderson, with maybe a little Britney Spears thrown in, Andrew Niccol has created a sharp satire of hero worship. Lacking an ego, Simone is the projection of everyone's desires; men want her and women want to be like her. Even more fascinating is Pacino's revelation that he is jealous of his creation, even when he has no need to be. Niccol sustains his sharp satire of celebrity until the very end of the movie.

Where `Simone' stumbles is its flat romance between Pacino and his former wife, Christine Keener. I'm sorry, but for me Keener lacks anything resembling sex appeal. Had this role been given to Kim Basinger, Rita Wilson, Cybil Shepherd, Ellen Barkin or Lauren Hutton, the `younger beauty/aging beauty pathos could have been examined. As it stands, `Simone' lacks the kind of conflict which could have given it real spark. Nonetheless, `Simone' is a fun, funny movie and is definitely worth seeing. I give `Simone' a `7'.

This wasn't a bad comedy starring a famous actor who is known more for his dramatic roles: Al Pacino.

For a one-joke storyline, I thought the film was pretty good, and certainly better than the critics would have you believe. The story moved well, only getting a little preposterous in the final 15-25 minutes, although the whole film is a tongue-and-cheek look at Hollywood fame.

It's a nice-looking DVD and Rachel Roberts falls in that category, too, as the beautiful computer-generated new movie star who isn't what people think.

This turned out to be an "okay" but not one that people raved about or added to their collections. Maybe it was the weak ending.

S1m0ne (SIMONE) is a creative little piece of filmmaking from the young New Zealand writer director Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, The Truman Show, Lord of War, The Host, Dali & I:The Surreal Story). While this may not register in the 'best films of the decade' category, it certainly challenges both our thinking and our imagination and creates a sense of wonder at just how far we have come with computer generation.

Has-been movie director/producer Viktor Taransky (Al Pacino, shining) faces disaster when his star Nicola Anders (Winona Ryder) deserts his latest desperate need for a hit film and comes up with the alternative - create a superstar by using a digital synthespian, a creature who via computer codes is destined to do anything the creator decides. And voila! Simone (or rather S1m0ne - Sim-One, the technology used to creature such ventures.) Viktor is saved as Simone (Rachel Roberts) becomes the superstar of Viktor's dreams - winning awards, and Viktor's heart - only requiring that he ultimately tell the public of his sham, a deed he attempts to avoid through means that place him in big trouble. The story is fantasy, but in Niccol's hands the fantasy becomes possibility and makes us question just how far advanced have we become...perhaps too far.

The strong supporting cast includes, along with Winona Ryder, Catherine Keener, Benjamin Salisbury, Jay Mohr, Evan Rachel Woods, and of course the digitally altered Rachel Roberts. The test of a good comedy is whether it can incorporate tragedy and still entertain. This film succeeds.

Grady Harp