Monday, November 16, 1998
Celebrity skins
FILM: Woody Allen gets the help
from an all-star cast of actors
for his new movie about the people
society makes famous
By Lonnie Harris
Daily Bruin Staff
"Celebrity" is certainly the word to describe Woody Allen’s new
project. Not only does the movie explore issues of fame and stardom
in modern America, but it also features a whole slew of the people
suggested by the title. Included in the cast are such "celebrities"
as Kenneth Branagh, Judy Davis, Charlize Theron, Hank Azaria,
Winona Ryder, Gretchen Moll, Melanie Griffith and (of course) the
biggest star of them all, Leonardo DiCaprio. (He has a small role,
ladies. Sorry.) It is mainly on the strength of these performances
that "Celebrity" succeeds at all. Not to discount the work of
Allen, undeniably one of the greatest writers the movies have ever
known, but this current project tends to ramble on for a while
without going anywhere, probably because of Allen’s personal
connection to the topic at hand.
What little story the film has centers around the recently
separated couple Lee and Robin (Branagh and Davis, respectively).
He’s a struggling freelance journalist and amateur screenwriter
trying desperately to attain the level of fame that the subjects of
his articles have achieved. She’s his quiet, mousy ex-wife who
becomes an instant star after dating a television producer (Joe
Mantenga).
Like all Allen movies, the actual workings of the plot are
secondary to individual scenes and moments. Many of these short
interludes are clever, fast and funny. There are moments in
"Celebrity," specific lines of dialogue, that are as witty as
anything Allen has ever written. One, for instance, finds Lee at
the apartment of hot rising star Brandon Darrow (a perfectly cast
DiCaprio), and unwittingly getting embroiled in some group sex
action. Under any other direction, this moment would have seemed
forced or phony – cheap comedy designed to elicit nervous laughter.
Allen’s hand is so light, however, that the audience can’t help but
laugh at the absurdity.
A lot of credit also much be given to the illustrious crop of
performers, who are not only perfectly cast but rise to the
occasion and deliver the laughs. Branagh and Davis are relied upon
to anchor the story and keep it centered despite the screenplay’s
tendency to digress. They succeed beautifully, especially Branagh
in a thankless role Allen obviously based on himself (a feat also
accomplished by Edward Norton in the director’s past "Everyone Says
I Love You".) The film’s most unexpected treasure, however, is
Theron as a supermodel who is not only obsessed with her public
image but who has a unique condition known as "polymorphous
eroticism" – the ability to become aroused by being touched on any
area of the body. Theron, who previously was given meaningless
roles in such trifles as "2 Days in the Valley" and "Devil’s
Advocate," finally has gotten a role that makes use of her sizable
comic talent. Like Cameron Diaz before her, the model has reached a
stage in her career where she is more than a body.
Tremendous acting is also required to carry the film through
some of its more patchy or self-indulgent sequences.
Allen, as always, cannot resist the temptation to throw a
prostitute into the film, even where it doesn’t belong. This time
it’s Bebe Newirth who has inherited hooker duty, and she does a
better-than-average job of giving the caricature some unique
personality. One scene, in which Newirth demonstrates proper oral
sex technique for Davis, could have been disastrous in the hands of
two amateurs, but becomes – in the capable hands of this duo – one
of the film’s funniest, if silliest, sequences.
If "Celebrity" has a downfall, it may be the conclusion.
At about the 90-minute mark, the film changes from an all-out
satire of fame into a "message" film about how America worships
idols who are undeserving of their place in society. A worthy
subject for a movie, no doubt, but it is possible that Allen has a
little too much at stake here.
Later scenes in the film, centering mainly around Branagh’s
relationship with young ingenue Nola (Ryder) smack of pretension,
much like the conclusion to Allen’s last film, "Deconstructing
Harry."
The film, like its predecessor, is much better when it observes
human behavior rather than comments on it.
"Celebrity" opens Nov. 20 nationwide.Photos courtesy of Miramax
Film.
Melanie Griffith and Kenneth Branagh are only two of the many
celebrities in Woody Allen’s new movie.
(Left to right) Kenneth Branagh, Leonardo DiCaprio, Gretchen
Mol
and Adrian Grenier play craps in a scene from Woody Allen’s
"Celebrity".
Kenneth Branagh and Winona Rider cling to the world of fame and
fortune in "Celebrity".
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