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.
begob
An earnest couple split up in a passion and, instead of getting back together, spin off into the chaos of the celebrity universe - one sets a pattern, the other drifts into oblivion. Or is it the other way round?Amazing cast, and the best performance is by Theron who uses everything she's got. Ryder is also excellent with her close ups, and Caprio rips it all up. The rest are pretty good, although puffy-faced Brannagh doesn't cut it: channelling Woody Allen is OK at first, but mostly irritating. The female lead also struggled. And Sam Rockwell gets his perm wet in the bath.It's stylish, but impossible to discuss without mentioning the actors by name. So something went wrong with the story, and it dragged a lot - at 60 mins I thought, "Crrrp - 45 mins to go." Poor story, despite the clever script.Music is good, and the New York boroughs look great.Overall, lots of lovely detail swirling in a bowl of brown water.
TheLittleSongbird
It seems like Celebrity is one of Woody Allen's most polarising films and that is understandable. It is one of my least favourite films of his along with What's Up Tiger Lily, To Rome with Love and Cassandra's Dream(remember September, Shadow and Fog and Curse of the Jade Scorpion not being very good, but all three need a re-watch), but that is not to say it is terrible because it isn't. It is wonderfully photographed(by far and away the best thing about the film), not surprising seeing as this is Sven Nykvist- responsible for a lot of the photography for the films of Ingmar Bergman, the best of which are some of the most visually beautiful and best films ever made- we're talking about. It does have some funny and witty lines, the best of which really sparkle, not to the extent they're quotable but they are funny still and raise a good smile. There are some scenes like Bebe Neuwirth teaching Judy Davis how to improve her sexual skills and Leonardo DiCaprio's tempting Branagh, or at least trying to, into group sex that are memorable. Allen's direction is a little unfocused in places but his style is unmistakable still, so Celebrity at least feels like a Woody Allen film and it has enough quirky moments to not be too dull. The performances on the most part are a lot of fun as well, Winona Ryder, Bebe Neuwirth, Leonardo DiCaprio(who had the most energy in the cast) and Joe Montegna being particularly so. Famke Janssen is appealing too, in short though this is a case of the supporting cast being better than the leads.Kenneth Branagh I have to agree doesn't work here(a shame because he is a great actor and just as talented a director), giving a rare irritating performance that is so careful channelling Woody Allen that he comes across as a pale imitation instead with no sense of originality or coming into his own. That his material is not the best works against him as well. Judy Davis is a little better with some signs of charm and humanity but a lot of her performance is way overdone, for somebody who was so good in Husbands and Wives it was disappointing. The script and gags have their moments and much of it is most admirable, but the humour could have been more biting and more acerbic. It was a very good example of humour that was funny in parts but wasn't consistent, it wasn't clever, sharp or thought provoking enough and came across as mean-spirited in places. And there are scenes that just don't work, some of the blow-job jokes did to me come across as distasteful while the scenes with Davis's doorstepping television interviews, Ryder's rehearsal in seducing women and the opening of the gallery in Soho were particularly risible. The story could have been much tighter and could have dealt with its themes more freshly, much of it is very muddled, painfully predictable and rambling as well as dealt with in a self-indulgent way and paced ploddingly. The characters don't have much personality(excepting DiCaprio's) and very little of Celebrity rings true, the risible scenes being very difficult to take at face value. In conclusion, definitely could have been worse considering the dislike it has but Celebrity personally was a disappointment. 5/10 Bethany Cox
jexline
"Celebrity", along with "Melinda and Melinda" are Woody's two underrated gems. This film pays tribute to Fellini's "8 1/2", along with other avant-garde cinema, down to the gorgeous black and white photography. Kenneth Branaugh plays Lee Simon, a celebrity journalist, who finds himself entangled with different women, using them as stepping stones to get to another one. Judy Davis is Robin, Lee's neurotic ex-wife. Branaugh is essentially playing the Allen role here, but puts his own spin on it making it more than just a caricature, although he does fit the type well. Davis is great as usual, and the all-star ensemble also bring depth and meaning to their portrayals. One of my favorite Allen movies.
