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SIMONE Send This Review to a Friend
Hollywood may well be headed in the direction satirized in "Simone," a merry comedy about a has-been director who wins new celebrity by introducing the world to a gorgeous new star named Simone. The trouble is that she doesn't exist. She's been digitally computer-created to order. Only the director knows the secret. Who needs troublesome, demanding and expensive actors when you can have a Simone? But what do you do when you need to present her in person?
With Al Pacino as the director, Victor Taransky, and Catherine Keener as his ex-wife and studio head, Elaine Christian, the ingredients are there for a quality film, and one is delivered by writer-director-producer Andrew Niccol. "Simone" is one of the most biting and enjoyable films of 2002. The challenge is to come up with enough complications to keep Taransky busy with clever deceptions to forestall the day when he must let his star be seen in the flesh. Even then he hits upon a brazen idea. He also has to keep warding off Elaine, who insists on meeting the lady. Their daughter Lainey (Evan Rachel Wood), who knows a thing or two about computers, turns out to play a major role. Admittedly, some of the gambits seem outrageously far-fetched, but the film gets by as fantasy as well as satire.
Taransky, willed the digital wherewithal by a frenzied, dying computer whiz named Hank (Elias Koteas), learns to make all of the creative adjustments on his computer setup shielded on a sealed-off soundstage. The movie he makes is a rousing hit, and the world quickly goes gaga over the beautiful, sultry Simone. Taranasky can even simulate remote interviews for television.
The ruse gets more complicated--and dangerous--than Taransky might have imagined. This is a plum role for Pacino, who makes the most of it with a broad yet intelligent performance. The movie industry is satirically given a trouncing as current technical effects are carried to the extreme, or what seems like the extreme at the moment. Just about anything can be created digitally these days, and it may be that actors should really start worrying, particularly ones like the demanding Nicola (played by Winona Ryder). Simone doesn't ask for big trailers and all sorts of extras in addition to a huge salary.
The film's credits are coy about Simone, saying she plays herself. Although there were digital manipulations, the lady in question is said to be Canadian model Rachel Roberts. A New Line Cinema release.
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