Film Review
Celebrity is a subject that Woody Allen has strong and somewhat contradictory
feelings about, going by two of his stand-out films of the 1980s -
Stardust Memories (1980)
and
Zelig (1983). On the eve
of the new millennium, he made this the central theme of another film, completing
what may be considered a loose trilogy. This time round, Allen appears
not only disenchanted but frankly disgusted with the whole notion of celebrity,
and his revulsion for the celebrity culture that has arisen in recent years
(the result of a spectacularly successful act of mass mind-control perpetrated
by greedy and cynically exploitative media executives) is succinctly expressed
in the film's most apposite line:
You can learn a lot about a society
by who it chooses to celebrate.
Allen's motivation for making the film is no doubt laudable but, unlike his
two previous bouts of casual celebrity bashing, here he falls down badly
in the execution. Unwilling to play the lead (presumably he felt he
was too old for the part), he passes it on to Kenneth Branagh, who, instead
of creating a convincing character, is content with trotting out a bad and
far from flattering Woody Allen impression. Branagh's grating performance
has the effect of not only preventing us from sympathising with the protagonist
(another familiar Allenesque loser, equipped with enough neuroses and self-doubt
to scupper the entire US navy), but it painfully accentuates the shortcomings
of the film's half-baked screenplay.
Celebrity lacks the coherence
and sustained forwards momentum of other, far better Woody Allen films, and
in the end it feels like a lazily cobbled together potpourri of well-worn
ideas, occasionally brilliant and insightful, momentarily laugh-out-loud
entertaining, but for the most part a slow and pretty aimless trudge across
all-too-familiar territory.
Kenneth Branagh's risibly lame input is marginally surpassed by that of his
co-star Judy Davis, who likewise makes the faux pas of basing her character's
persona on Allen, with the result that the leads appear to be going head-to-head
in some kind of freakish Woody Allen look-a-like contest. Were it not
for the fact that
Celebrity was attractively photographed in stunning
black and white, by former Ingmar Bergman collaborator Sven Nykvist, and
has such a strong supporting cast, with brief but memorable turns from the
likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Winona Ryder (and amusing cameos by other
notables such as Donald Trump), it would be a pretty daunting prospect for
even the most ardent of Woody Allen admirers. The episode with DiCaprio
(who is both hilarious and shockingly convincing as your archetypal celebrity
brat) kick-starts the film at the precise moment when your interest in it
has touched rock bottom, but it is questionable whether this alone is enough
to redeem an otherwise middling offering from a writer-director who is starting
to appear grimly
depassé and a tad complacent.
© James Travers 2017
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
In New York City, 40-year-old Lee Simon is coping badly with a midlife crisis
after breaking up with his equally neurotic wife Robin. Feeling that
they married too young, Lee and Robin are eager to make a fresh start but
both lack the confidence to strike out on their own and start a new life.
While his ex-wife goes on retreat, Lee, a failed novelist, scrapes a living
as a travel writer whilst trying to find an A-list movie star willing to
endorse his screenplay. Lee has aspirations of becoming a rich and
famous Hollywood screenwriter, but in the course of a series of romantic
adventures and brushes with celebrity he begins to question whether this
is what he really wants. Meanwhile, Robin has found herself the ideal
partner, in handsome television producer Tony Gardella, and through him she
finds the fame that has eluded Lee as a TV interviewer...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.