ElMaruecan82 Many Allen's fans are surprised at "Celebrity"'s poor ratings and reception. Well, I'm surprised at their surprise.As incongruous as it is to talk about ratings in a film that dismisses critics, I think 6 stars out of 10 is a pretty reasonable appreciation of Allen's attempt to emulate Fellini's masterpiece "La Dolce Vita". It doesn't disqualify everything from "Celebrity" and many moments hit the right chord, but other ones fell desperately flat or annoying, and I don't mean Allen-annoying but annoying-annoying. Yes, I know it's supposed to have that effect, but between Allen's intentions and the finished result, it's up to the viewer to make up his mind. Having done that, I could narrow it down to one double problem: Kenneth Branagh and Judy Davis. Bad actions can be fun, bad acting, not so much, not from the lead characters anyway.The film's opening echoes the unforgettable image from "La Dolce Vita" with the plane carrying the Jesus statue with bikini-clad women waving at them. One can also see a good deal of symbolism in a plane skywriting the word 'HELP', but the sequence doesn't let much time for analysis as it immediately introduces the first celebrity played by Melanie Griffith, later approached by Branagh after he's done flirting with another actress played by Winona Ryder. Now, the plane, with the black-and-white photography established the kinship between Allen and Fellini and the rest of the film consists on different encounters with celebrities, all related to archetypal situations, just like Mastroianni's unforgettable journey.Do we learn something about the celebrities' world? Not much but it can be fun, some take luscious poses in bed and make it with the interviewer, other sniff coke, the rest is made of partying, boozing, dancing, banging, to clearly establish the obvious: a world of false sophistication and debauchery that can only sound appealing to someone going through midlife crisis and eager to spice up his life a little. So the problem wasn't much in the episodic structure and the rather absence of plot, the story is as confusing as the mind of a man approaching the forties can get. The problem is in the performances. Basically, the two people who belong to the normal world are those who don't act normally.Indeed, we expect from a sexy and easily aroused top-model (Charlize Theron) to be open-minded in terms of sexual preferences and be concerned about anything that can affect her health or face, because she's under contract with a cosmetic company. We expect from a young coke-addict star, much more with the look of Di Caprio, to handle wife-beating, hotel-room crashing or plural sex as part of common routine, or for a stage starlet not to be in a hurry to belong to somebody. And the celebrities did justice to their cameos. But I didn't think it would happen -and I saw the film twice- I was strongly annoyed by Branagh and Davis.There's a part where Branagh contemplates his age with anxiousness during a prom reunion, if he was as good in the rest of the film as he was in that sequence, "Celebrity" might have been a better experience. In fact, why not just playing it like Mastroianni? He wasn't exceptional but there was a constant boredom or detachment in his eyes, which made him a better foil for the world he was plunging us into. This time, it's Branagh and Davis who make the celebrities look normal by contrast, by both needlessly overplaying their nervousness and anxiety. Basically, Branagh is doing an Allen impression and Judy Davis is playing the same character as in "Husbands and Wives", but it had a point when she was an insecure middle-aged woman left by a good husband, here, there wasn't any psychological set-up to make her hysteria believable.Take one scene where Joe Mantegna asks her out, she hesitates, tries to find the right way to say no, she's good at embodying nervousness, but for such an inhibited character, her anxiety confined to ostensible hysteria, and she was anything but discreet. Take the other scene with the hooker, she's with a woman, one with sexual experience, so the least likely to be shocked, but Davis is again as neurotic as ever, incapable to finish a sentence, stuttering, hesitating, mentioning her 'Catholic education' once again. Seriously, there have been dysfunctional couples in Allen's films but rarely with the two of them being like Davis and Branagh, the latter channeling Allen so shamelessly it makes you wonder why Allen didn't play the role.When Allen plays his usual neurotic guy, he doesn't act, he's just being himself and that's what the film needed, normal people to emphasize the attraction one could have toward the celebrity world, but by playing the two 'straight persons' in such an eccentric way, the film loses its balance and coherence. We don't see in Davis and Branagh a normal couple, but caricatures. And Branagh's role wasn't demanding much, even by underplaying it, it would have worked better than playing the Allenian card and damaging the film's credibility. In the scene where he splits up again with Famke Janssen's character, it's like Jamsen can give acting lessons to the Shakespearian actor. She plays a realistically hurt woman; he's doing a stand-up routine. This was the opportunity for playing an interesting comedic character but there's worse than doing your shtick, it's doing someone else's.Now, the film has its moments, I don't think Allen could make a dull or boring film even if he wanted to, but "Celebrity" doesn't strike as one of his major offerings, and it's not saying much from a director with such a prolific career. And I'm severe for a simple reason, even if I didn't like an Allen film as I expected, I rarely exclude the possibility of watching it again, but here, I can't imagine seeing Davis and Branagh again, and unfortunately, there's not single scene without any of them.
Desertman84 Black-and-white Sven Nykvist cinematography highlights this Woody Allen comedy about fame and obscurity among Manhattan celebs in this film entitled,Celebrity. The screenplay focuses on the divergent paths a couple takes following their divorce.It has an all-star cast in Hank Azaria,Kenneth Branagh,Judy Davis,Leonardo DiCaprio,Melanie Griffith,Famke Janssen,Michael Lerner,Joe Mantegna,Bebe Neuwirth,Winona Ryder and Charlize Theron.This comedy-drama film is written and directed by Woody Allen.Lee Simon is an unsuccessful novelist turned travel writer who immerses himself in celebrity journalism following a midlife crisis and subsequent divorce from his insecure wife, Robin, a former English teacher, after sixteen years of marriage.As he stumbles his way through both professional encounters and sexual escapades with performers, models, and other players in the world of entertainment, Lee increasingly questions his purpose in life. He blows numerous opportunities due to his fame-seeking and neuroses.Meanwhile, Robin trades her many neuroses for a makeover and a job with television producer Tony Gardella that leads to her own celebrity interview program. She takes advantage of numerous opportunities and ends up happy and successful.This film pinpoints the excessive role of celebrities in American culture and their impact in the average American.The black-and-white film is impressive, but the tale is shallow and diffuse and has little to say about our media- saturated life and obsession with fame.It was scattered but it nevertheless managed to be entertaining.
keystone_cop17 I don't write many of these reviews, but upon viewing Celebrity again, and noticing that it is Woody Allen's lowest rated film - I felt that I absolutely must say something. As stated in my summary I think this film is brilliant. There are so many nuances, so many little things that work so well. What people fail to realize is that this movie is not about liking the main character. In fact, he is decidedly unlikable. But we are not supposed to empathize with him. We are supposed to feel sorry for him. Lee needs "help" as is clearly stated at the end of the film. What's more, the movie is about Celebrity. Plain and simple. It shows us every kind of celebrity from the TV Priest to Brandon Darrow's party boy character. It shows the ridiculous and cardboard thin nature of celebrity as the old woman clearly points out about a famous hostage: "what - he's a hero for being captured?""Celebrity" illustrates America (and maybe the world's) bizarre obsession with fame, by holding up a mirror and presenting the people as they really are. It also shows us how we as an audience can be fooled, and how we worship celebrities for moments of fabricated beauty. This is brilliantly shown during the "Kiosk at Midnight" scene between Nola and Lee. It's possibly one of the most beautiful scenes ever put on film - but it's between two perverse and loathsome people. But we are fooled - and just for a moment, all is right. Such is the nature of celebrity. 10/10 Give this film another shot.
