Celebrity

Nice to know he's there. Woody Allan does it again. It's funny. It's great. It's real. Actors act. Kenneth Branagh does a great Woody Allan. It's a love story with a twist. Big issues rounded up in the circle of celebrity. How do we choose our idols? Why do we worship them? And how can we become celebrity? It's all done with Altmania, but it's everything Prêt-à-Porter isn't. If you're a Woody Allan fan and you haven't seen this one yet there is something to look forward to...

CELEBRITY (1998) ***1/2 The biggest irony in CELEBRITY is how long it took to be released in Brazil: two years. This is not a common thing here, but it has also happened to DECONSTRUCTING HARRY, SWEET AND LOWDOWN and now SMALL TIME CROOKS. It seems that they have something against Woody Allen and his fans, but in fact it is a problem among the distributors. However, the wait was worthy: CELEBRITY is a great film. It received bad reviews in the US for no apparent reason- here in Brazil the reviews were almost universally positive. Maybe the critics are tired of Woody Allen, maybe they just didn't get his point. The truth is that CELEBRITY is no ANNIE HALL, MANHATTAN, HANNAH AND HER SISTERS or CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS, but is a great film overall. The story is about a divorced couple- Lee and Robin Simon (Kenneth Branagh and Judy Davis), who try to find their position in the society. Lee is a journalist who starts to write about art, so he gets closer to celebrities. He gets involved with lots of women- the futile actress Nicole Oliver (Melanie Griffith) who belongs to her husband only down the neck, a supermodel (Charlize Theron) with an "erotic failure", a cold woman (Famke Janssen) who wants to live with him, and a second rate actress (Winona Ryder) who is not his "obscure object of desire" as he thinks. He is between finish writing his novel (after the bad reviews for his first novel) and trying to sell a script- when he meets another futile star (Leonardo DiCaprio). In resume, his life is a mess with no way-back. In the meantime, his ex-wife Robin, an English teacher, ironically gets more luck than him: she meets a TV producer (Joe Mantegna), who thinks she has a future as a TV presenter. With a good story in hands, Allen turns it into an acid, funny film. But you know the laughs in his films aren't gratuitous- they come naturally, or depending on the way you get into the scene. And they are also bitter (remember the subtitles scene in ANNIE HALL)- this taste of humor is not for everyone. The funniest, best scene is when the prostitute teaches Davis' character how to do a blow-job, using a banana. As usual, Allen takes great performances from the whole cast. Kenneth Branagh has been criticized for imitating Woody Allen too much, but I think he did a great job. We already know Judy Davis (especially), Joe Mantegna and Winona Ryder are terrific, but it is a miracle what Allen can do with Melanie Griffith, Leonardo Di Caprio and Charlize Theron, usually bland performers. Charlize is the most peculiar character and delivers a great and funny performance. The main detail of the film is the use of black-and-white. This is not the first time Allen uses that (MANHATTAN, STARDUST MEMORIES, SHADOWS AND FOG), but it is almost a character in this picture- it shows a world that is even more sufocating than ours. With that, he makes an acid critic about our society, that turns superficial, futile people into instant celebrities. This is not new, of course, but here these people are also victims of the sufocating society. If a society can be interpreted by who it chooses to celebrate, it is worse than it seems to be. Allen commits some mistakes here and there with his critic, but you don't find many films like this out there- clever, funny, bitter and realistic. Remember the HELP sign on the air...

Woody Allen's imagination is endless. Once again he manages to captivate with this very smart and subtle tale of interrelated stories while delivering a very strong punch of social critique. If you are an Allen's fan you will like it, if not... don't bother. This is only a movie for the initiated.

Woody Allen is certainly a celebrity if attention from the tabloids is any judge and well qualified to write a film about Celebrity. He lives openly in Manhattan amongst the rich yuppies he loves to write about and has attracted plenty of tabloid attention to do with his private life. Whether he has succeeded in presenting a film about the concept of celebrity is debatable though because this film throws itself in probably a dozen directions, not really leaving familiar Allen territory. His films usually feature himself playing a character very like himself or a character who is recognisably Woody Allen. He's portrayed as a dithering, well meaning but self serving sophisticate who's friends and lovers spar their way through self induced minor crises of the heart. Allen's films usually contain a myriad of set pieces, often centered about religious guilt and a fear of commitment, and they're nearly always very funny. In Celebrity the English master actor Kenneth Branagh has taken the Woody Allen part playing a journalist Lee Simon with terrific energy and authenticity. Lee is facing a mid life crisis. He confesses infidelities to his wife Robin (Australia's Judy Davis - in another wonderful performance) and then bounces from one disappointment with women and with his career to the next. He wants to write a novel but can't get together the courage. He no doubt fears he lacks the talent. Robin on the other hand has a classic female Woody Allen female break down but then haltingly blossoms when Tony (Joe Mantegna) falls unreservedly in love with her. But can she cope even with this? In fact Woody Allen films are so much about lack of confidence and are seemingly so autobiographical that it's a wonder Allen hasn't lost his nerve in real life and ended up not being able to face Central Park or a movie studio at all. It's a wonder he's not permanently in therapy (perhaps he is!) The secret must lie with the generosity and concern he feels for the rich cocaine and diamond social set he shares. His humor is warm and never cruel, although women may take issue with this. There are some particularly demeaning (but not nasty) scenes for the women in Celebrity although humiliation isn't confined to the women. The men are often equally lost and at the mercy of their uncertainties and lack of clear direction in life. Oh to be so spoilt! Woody Allen films are often about the nearly idle rich and more importantly about the selfish generation. Love affairs always seem to be temporary affairs, even if they last years, ready to make way for a new model. Viewers, as often happens in a Woody Allen film, can play the star spotting game. As well as Kenneth Branagh and Judy Davis and Joe Mantegna there's Leonardo DiCaprio, Gretchen Mol,, Famke Jansen, Winona Ryder, Bebe Neuwirth, and Charlize Theron to recognise. The wit is often sharp and very funny with solid stabs being made at Catholic idolatry, the media, supercilious film directors and spoilt brat stars. There's a fine moment of two some, hilarious, some touching. The Woody Allen moaning becomes a bit of a whine once or twice but Celebrity wins hands down with plenty of fine, fun dialogue and beautifully realised photography and a final meekly despairing plea from the scared to be committed.