S1m0ne (2002)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Andrew Niccol

Writer (WGA):

Andrew Niccol (written by)

Release Date:

23 August 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

A star is... created.

Plot:

A producer's film is endangered when his star walks off, so he decides to digitally create an actress to substitute for the star, becoming an overnight sensation that everyone thinks is a real person.

Plot Keywords:

Actress | Fraud | False Accusation | Indestructibility | Hotel

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Al Pacino	...	Viktor Taransky
Benjamin Salisbury	...	Production Assistant
Winona Ryder	...	Nicola Anders
Darnell Williams	...	Studio Executive #1
Jim Rash	...	Studio Executive #2
Ron Perkins	...	Studio Executive #3
Jay Mohr	...	Hal Sinclair
Catherine Keener	...	Elaine Christian
Evan Rachel Wood	...	Lainey Christian Taransky
Jeffrey Pierce	...	Kent
Jeff Williams	...	Man in Suit
Rachel Roberts	...	Simone (as Simone)
Mitzi Martin	...	Premiere Audience Member
Carole Androsky	...	Premiere Audience Member (as Carol Androsky)
Christopher Neiman	...	Premiere Audience Member

Also Known As:

Simone (USA) (alternative spelling)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sensuality.

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:G (Alberta/British Columbia/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Brazil:Livre | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:6 | Netherlands:AL | Peru:PT | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:PG | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

City Hall - 100 N. Garfield Avenue, Pasadena, California, USA

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

As part of the pre-released publicity for this film, it was claimed that Simone would be played by a completely photo-realistic computer-generated actress.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the hologram is created for the concert, there is an actual microphone present which is not part of the hologram. During the song Simone is singing with the microphone in her hands, the microphone is missing from the standard.

Quotes:

Viktor: Do you know why I, Viktor Taransky, two-time Academy Award nominated director...
Elaine: Viktor, that was short subjects.
Viktor: ...overseeing the most cherished movie project of my entire career, am walking around with - look, look, look - pockets full of these... things?
Elaine: Well, I have a feeling you're gonna tell me.
Viktor: I'm gonna tell ya why. Because Miss Nicola Anders, supermodel with a SAG card, has it written in her contract that all cherry Mike and Ike's be removed from her candy dish, along with strict instructions that any room she walks into must have seven packs of cigarettes waiting for her, three of them open. That there be a personal Jacuzzi within eighty paces of her dressing room, and that any time she travels, her nanny must fly with her, first class.
[...]

Movie Connections:

References 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Soundtrack:

Rogue Motel

Sharp Satire, Dull Romance

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'.