S1m0ne

"S1m0ne" is a different kind of movie, with an original, different and very interesting idea. But, despite this clever premise, it was a disappointment.

The plot is brilliant in fact: Viktor Taransky, a producer with his career in danger, desperately needs a success. He decides to create a virtual actress named "Simone". "Simone" is perfect, gorgeous, beautiful and sexy. She's not real, but nobody knows that and she becomes a major hit.

However, this intelligent and amazing idea is ruined as Simone's fame grows to the extreme. Viktor Taransky, not to reveal the truth, is forced to "hide" her from the public and this ends up becoming too much for him. That's when the movie becomes ridiculous: he decides to ruin Simone's image in all ways, but the more he tries to do it, the more the public likes her. From this part on, the rest is pointless and pathetic. The ending is probably the worst and most ridiculous ending I've ever seen in a movie.

Al Pacino, as usual, is great and this role of Viktor Taransky is one of his best roles. The beautiful Rachel Roberts is great as "S1m0ne".

In conclusion: it's truly a pity how such a genial idea was ruined by rubbish humor. The movie had potential to be much better than this. After all, the plot was so good... a wasted opportunity. If this movie was made more carefully, it could have something special like "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and "The Mask".

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.

Very good satire on the cult of celebrity, in which the whole world falls all over itself in praise of a non-existent actress.

The movie also deals, to a much lesser extent, with the conflict between wanting to create a perfect artistic vision and wanting to create art that is in the world. It's not the most pointed or savage of satires, but it is quite a funny one.

Some people here have criticized it for being predictable, which really misses the point of satire. Satire is based to a great extent on the frightening predictability of people, and it must follow a logical train of escalating events or what's the point. The biggest failing in the movie is near the end where it jumps track from a logical train of events to a dumb plot device, which while not a fatal error is lazy and takes away from the overall effect of the film.

But mainly it's just funny. Consistently so from beginning to end. And also notable as about the only good performance I've seen from Winona Ryder since Mermaids.

Ever since I first saw Gattaca, I've been looking for other films directed by Andrew Niccol. This being one of them, and so far, one of the only ones(but I certainly hope he makes more films in the future... he has some very interesting ideas), I simply had to watch. I was not disappointed. Like Gattaca, this is science fiction; however, Gattaca is more of a all-out sci-fi film, and S1m0ne only has some elements of science fiction. Before I comment on the sci-fi, I must comment on the great humor in the film. This is the first of Niccol's films(Truman Show, Gattaca and then this) I've seen that has comedy(in the form of satire, that is). Truly great comedy, as well. You know why? Because it's real. It's stuff that we can recognize, stuff that we know from ourselves, from the people around us. The comedy mostly revolves around how easily everyone is tricked, how quick they are to believe in something without any proof. I believe it was Voltaire who said: "If there were no God, it would be necessary to invent one". We want to be deceived, we want to be tricked, we want to have something to hope for and believe in. I mean, let's be honest; that is the very basis for why religion exists, and why people claim to spot UFOs. People need to believe in something... and they believe in Simone. Despite what her maker has her do, despite no one ever having met her in person, people love her. They need to. They need someone, something to believe in. The many scenes of Viktor covering up Simone not being real, creating the illusion of her in various forms to satisfy other people's urge to see her, meet her, talk to her may be somewhat slapstick in their nature, but they only emphasize how ludicrous and easily bought the everyday man is. They want to believe it so badly, they simply can't accept anything else. This seems to be what most critics of this film are missing. Their refusal to accept it is simply them denying human nature. As Pacino's character realizes near the end: "She's indestructible". It is not possible to remove her, because the public won't accept it. She must exist. I noticed a lot of references to the story of Frankenstein in this film. It is basically the 21st century's version of Frankenstein, with some computer-based science fiction elements and set in Hollywood. I have never seen a film that so openly mocks the superficiality of Hollywood, and for that reason alone, anyone should see it. The plot is very good, though it develops at a somewhat uneven pace... in fact, the pacing seems a tad off. The acting is mostly very good. The special effects are top-notch... they were in 2002, and they still are. This could have been better, but it was still very good. I recommend this to anyone who is interested from reading the plot outline, people who enjoyed Gattaca and fans of science fiction as commentary on real issues. 7/10

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.