Celebrity (1998)
Adrian Grenier, Aida Turturro, Charlize Theron
Woody Allen's portrait of the celebrity life--as seen through the eyes of a newly divorced couple--is a black-and-white, New York-style La Dolce Vita that's a chillier flip side to Allen's earlier New York valentine, Manhattan. Despite a few missteps, though, it's an admirable (if dar...
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Woody Allen's portrait of the celebrity life--as seen through the eyes of a newly divorced couple--is a black-and-white, New York-style La Dolce Vita that's a chillier flip side to Allen's earlier New York valentine, Manhattan. Despite a few missteps, though, it's an admirable (if dark) and worthy addition to the Allen pantheon. Kenneth Branagh and Judy Davis (both boasting American accents) star as the once-marrieds, each struggling to build new, separate lives in a media-saturated, celebrity-driven world. He tries his hands at celebrity profiles (while peddling a screenplay to any star that will listen) and falls into the lap of a bosomy starlet (Melanie Griffith), the first in a long line of briefly attainable women. She runs into a producer (Joe Mantegna) who offers her a job as a TV personality as well as a loving relationship. This seemingly simple double plot is punctuated with twists and turns in the form of flashbacks and innumerable side trips, all ravishingly photographed in black and white by the legendary Sven Nykvist, and populated by one of Allen's largest casts ever; if you blink you'll miss countless cameos by Isaac Mizrahi, Donald Trump, Hank Azaria, and a host of others. While Davis is splendid as usual (aside from the requisite nervous breakdown scene she's done one too many times), somebody should have told Branagh to put a kibosh on his Woody Allen imitation, which is so impeccable as to become irritating. His failure in the role, however, isn't entirely his fault, as it's also another in a long line of unlikable male protagonists that Allen has created, as if daring audiences to hate his main characters after loving them in such movies as Manhattan and Annie Hall. He's never more unlikable than in a painful sequence in which he tags along with a spoiled, temperamental teen idol (a shrewd and clever Leonardo DiCaprio) and proves himself the quintessential noodge. Far more enjoyable misadventures with Branagh include Charlize Theron in the film's best performance as a libidinous supermodel with a penchant for echinacea; a stunning Famke Janssen as a successful book editor Branagh almost moves in with; and Winona Ryder, acting like an adult for the first time, as an aspiring actress who catches Branagh's eye more than once. All manage to slip through Branagh's fingers by the end of the film. Despite the film's lack of focus, Allen aficionados will want this film for at least two wonderful moments, one in which Davis seeks solace from a streetwise fortune teller after she's fleeing her own wedding, and a beautiful nighttime scene in which Branagh romances a captivated Ryder at a subway kiosk. Both episodes prove that Allen, despite the fitful period he's moved into, still has that movie magic. --Mark Englehart
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R, 113 min.
Directed by:
Woody Allen
Release Date: Nov 20, 1998
DVD Release Date: Oct 02, 2001
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Really uninteresting and the whole thing with Branagh trying to be Woody's stand in for this movie was very grating.
Woody Allen does La Dolce Vita to great effect. Filled with wonderful comedy, pathos, human insight and psychology. Portrays cult of Celebrity as baseless and shallow, yet in the end individual undoes his own happiness, not culture. Kenneth Branagh i... (read more) Woody Allen does La Dolce Vita to great effect. Filled with wonderful comedy, pathos, human insight and psychology. Portrays cult of Celebrity as baseless and shallow, yet in the end individual undoes his own happiness, not culture. Kenneth Branagh is Woody's Avatar to great warmth and effect. Notable performance from Judy Davis, Joe Mantegna, and Famke Janssen. Always insightful, and filled with biting wit. Shot in gorgeous b/w and most shots are filled with wall-to-wall people. Some lovely urban locales, but unlike Manhattan, landscape here is people. Wonderful record of the time, meaningful story, always worthwhile.
C'est une agreable suprise de decouvrir que tous les films de Woody Allen ne sont pas a jeter. C'est un film agreable, avec de jolie dialogue et plusieurs scene tres drole!
Kenneth Branagh plays a very convincing Woody Allen in this movie. I love the scene in which his girlfriend takes the ferry and throws his one copy novel manuscript into the water. This movie was shot just a few months before Leonardo DiCaprio became... (read more) Kenneth Branagh plays a very convincing Woody Allen in this movie. I love the scene in which his girlfriend takes the ferry and throws his one copy novel manuscript into the water. This movie was shot just a few months before Leonardo DiCaprio became famous thanks to Titanic. I wouldn't have mind playing his part in Celebrity, smashing a hotel room and engaging in an orgy... :))
Only a master filmmaker can go this wrong. I love watching awful films from great directors. Even their failures are infinitely more insteresting than most of the generic stuff that comes out. This film is a spectacle to behold. It's like 90% of ... (read more) Only a master filmmaker can go this wrong. I love watching awful films from great directors. Even their failures are infinitely more insteresting than most of the generic stuff that comes out. This film is a spectacle to behold. It's like 90% of the ideas Allen had about this were awful, but he believed in himself so much that they got through. It's spectacularly bad. There are two good jokes in the whole movie (and they're chuckles at best).
Relatively dull for a Woody Allen comedy (as far as Allen movies about celebrity, I prefer the far superior "Stardust Memories"), but Leo's tirade is well worth the price of admission.
Woody Allen is like AC/DC, you know what you are getting and neither rarely stray from that formula because when they do they suck. Woody Allen does what he did in Stardust Memories, highly entertaining seeing Kenneth Branagh play the "woody" charact... (read more) Woody Allen is like AC/DC, you know what you are getting and neither rarely stray from that formula because when they do they suck. Woody Allen does what he did in Stardust Memories, highly entertaining seeing Kenneth Branagh play the "woody" character. I heard Woody doesn't really direct his actors (give them notes)in his films that is not surprising he hired characters galore in this film and the star pretty much play themselves (or who Woody thinks they are in some way or another). 90% of film making is casting, he casts character actors who can do it easily off the page without much help, so obviously he goes without giving much and its been working for decades, why stop now. Well written, well acted, well done.
Awesome cast and it really does have some clever insights into the cult of celebrity as well as some clever-clever tricks to illustrate them.
Kenneth Branagh does a fantastic Woody Allen but Judy Davis is far and gone the best thing about this mov... (read more) Awesome cast and it really does have some clever insights into the cult of celebrity as well as some clever-clever tricks to illustrate them.
Kenneth Branagh does a fantastic Woody Allen but Judy Davis is far and gone the best thing about this movie. I don't know if she got an Oscar nod for this but man did she deserve one. So funny and so painfully real.
One of the most fascinating character studies I have seen in a long time. Great script, great messages and a great cast!
kinda not a fan of Woody Allen at all . . .
seems like he really knows the subject of men & women relationships, but can't beautifully & simply give it 2 ppl who watch movies =))
gettin everything complicated & loadin w/ tons of unnecessary details ... (read more) kinda not a fan of Woody Allen at all . . .
seems like he really knows the subject of men & women relationships, but can't beautifully & simply give it 2 ppl who watch movies =))
gettin everything complicated & loadin w/ tons of unnecessary details =))
long story short couple divorces, she was a complete nerd / reserved catholic / not beautiful . . .
& he was around celebrities all his life takin interviews / looking younger than ppl of his age / complete loser as a writer basically but w/ the gr8est ego & illusion that he could've been better w/out his wife;
then she ends up being a celebrity, being hot & happily married 2 a successful man while he loses at all parts of life - love, career, etc.
many things added 2 this story makin it looong & complex =))
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