Celebrity

Rating:
Summary: DiCaprio is the best thing in film
Review: The film is beautifully shot in black and white. Many critics faulted Branagh's performance but the truth is if Woody Allen had played his role, it would not have been believable - Winona Ryder, Charlize Theron - all falling for Woody? Anyway, the main spark in the film comes from the 15 minutes of Leonardo DiCaprio as a drugged out movie star playing with Branagh's head - the energy DiCaprio exerts only goes to show, by comparison, how uninteresting most of the other characters in the film are - you wonder how good a film this really could have been if DiCaprio's part was more like 60 min rather than 15.

Rating:
Summary: Woody Allen's Worst
Review: The neurosis of characters in Woody Allen movies was always funny becuase there was underlying drama. Here in celebrity, a profane film about nothing, the nuerosis is what it would be in the hands of any other film-maker, annoying. Now about the profanity, the characters in this film throw it out like 10 year olds who have just learned a new set of words and in desperate need to show off, therefore their delivery is stilted. I normally love colourfull dialogue, but if you want to see it used comedically and naturally, check out how Ron Shelton uses it in White Man Can Jump, or how De Niro and Pesci use it in a Scorscese flick. Allen is also worringly preoccupied with masterbation and penis jokes which are fine, but when they take up a third of the running time then something is wrong. The thing is, all this is a side show as the film is about nothing. I showed this film to my mother after telling her how great Allen was, and by the end I was depressed and speechless. With its sitcom level satire of celebrity, its overlength this has got to be the worst film Allen has ever made (I love Shadows and Fog no matter what anyone thinks). I don't however think he has lost it, becuase his best films were made in the late 80s and early 90s, Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Husbands and Wives and especially Bullets Over Broadway are all classics. Here however Allen is on auto-pilot making a movie that is not worth the beatiful black and white film its printed on, or the choice pieces on its soundtrack, and these sadly are the only reason for that other star.

Rating:
Summary: Fatally flawed movie despite fine premise
Review: This comedy is a tribute in the guise of a parody of the great Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini's early '60s classic, LA DOLCE VITA. (Just so we don't miss the point, this was shot in black-and-white, but, unlike the older film, the story is now set in -- where else in a contemporary Woody Allen movie? -- Manhattan, rather than Rome.)

So far, so good. This should well have been another perfectly good Allen comedy, but, alas, he blows it big time by casting a woefully unsuited actor -- not even a seasoned comic actor -- to star in a role screenwritten for the unique delivery style and appearance of, well, Woody Allen.

Allen has said in interviews that he cast Kenneth Branagh in this part because Allen looks too old for it: He needed someone about 40, and Branagh fit the bill.

HUGE mistake. Though Branagh is a distinguished dramatic actor and director, he's totally out of his depth playing a younger stand-in for Allen, much as Allen himself would be if he was to play Claudius opposite Branagh as Hamlet.

Branagh simply doesn't know how to be funny in here. He speaks all the Woody Allen-type lines, credibly recreates Allen's requisite halting patter, yet utterly fails to capture either Allen's, or any other sort of, comic timing. The result is that he merely sounds foolish and pathetic -- too much so to even care about his character.

Allen should've faced facts, bit the bullet, and cast himself in the part. Sure, he's too old, but that could've been easily remedied by changing the story just enough to make that character older. After all, it's not an action movie we're talking here: Make the character 60ish, cast an older actress like Diane Keaton or Dianne Wiest (who're much funnier at playing an Allenesque female counterpart than is the younger Judy Davis anyway) as his ex-wife, cast someone like Judy Davis instead of the glamorous Famke Janssen as Allen's first girlfriend and someone like Madonna or Helen Hunt instead of Winona Ryder as his even more youthful second girlfriend. These modifications would've worked beautifully, making it popular with audiences and critics alike, and made a profit instead of losing the bundle it did.

And what a shame: The movie has some wonderful, hilarious set-ups for Allen's brand of humor -- escapades with a seductive supermodel (Charlize Theron), with a madcap movie star (Leonardo DiCaprio), and at a literary cocktail party. The LA DOLCE VITA parallelling provides a nice framework for everything, but without Allen in the flesh, the completed work suffers badly for want of wit, personality and cohesion.

Rating:
Summary: A one hour movie stretched into two.
Review: This is one of the worst Woody Allen movies I have ever seen. It is so convoluted with dialogue, it loses your interest from the beginning. It stars Kenneth Branagh who might as well be Woody himself with all of the "Umm's" and "Wells" he manages to force into each sentence. I would recommend that you not see this movie. It was a huge disappointment and I want those two hours of my life back.

Rating:
Summary: The end of genious
Review: This long, cynical, and pointless movies is a shell of the great insightful films Mr. Allen used to create.

Rating:
Summary: Leo is great!
Review: This movie does go on for abit long but it takes an interesting look at the downfalls of fame and fortune. The highlight of this movie is Leonardo DiCaprio's wondeful performance as a sex, and drug crazed movie star. It is unfair if not wrong to say that he is playing himself though. Anybody who has said that and does not even know what they are talking should think twice. It is very unfair to assume that. The acting is great by everyone who is in this movie. If you are a fan of the cinema and want to see an interesting film than I suggest this.

Rating:
Summary: If there's nothing else to watch and you like the Wood-man
Review: This movie is not going to fullfill anyone (even die-hard Woodie fans). I actually didn't mind the black and white if it had a purpose which it doesn't (aside from one forced joke). Kenneth Branagh was downright annoying with his impression of Woody (put something of your own into the character for God sakes). Judy Davis, although I loved her in Husbands & Wives, was a bit unwatchable in this one for some reason (maybe overacting?). And as for everyone who liked Leonardo, I thought it was further proof that he has no range as an actor and wouldn't know subltey if it hit him in the face. He's given a seen where he can smash lamps and say F**K a lot, in other words he's given a juicy role where it can appear likes he's really into it and he does it like any beginning actor would, not one original movement. The guy is horrible plain and simple. I liked Joe Mantegna a lot, very breezy and likeable and it was shot splendidly which is always nice to see. Watch it, if you have nothing else to watch, there are a few (and I mean a few) ammusing scenes (and watch for Tom Green as an extra!), but other than that, not that great a movie.

Rating:
Summary: You have to see this movie!
Review: This movie is pretty good. it is all in Black and White, but after a while you get used to it. Most of the male charecters are unlikeable. If you are a Leonrdo fan, I recomend it. But if you aren't I still do, because his apperence in the movie is very short and he has a unlikeable chasrecter. This movie is funny and I think you schould watch it. Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Very funny and almost shimmering but.......
Review: This movie is very funny and as a I stated SHIMMERING. The stars and and acting in this movie just jump right of the screen at you.

Kenneth Branagh stars as Woody Allen...which I was little annoyed with because Woody Allen is annoying enough, but when a respected good actor tries to impersonate him...that is double annoying. That is the only down fall to this movie. Branagh goes through this movie in and out of relationships. A short fling at the beginning with Melanie Griffith, then Charlize Theron, and on, and on... The other side of the story is his ex-wife, played brilliantly as always by Judy Davis. Judy Davis tries to find herself after the break up with Branagh and finds Joe Mantagna, who for once plays a real good guy. She ruins it thinking that there has to be a bad side to him, and as she puts it "Waiting for the other shoe to drop." This movie is very funny, has a pretty good meaning, and all and all is very enjoying. Written and directed by Mr. Woody "Annoying" Allen. Also stars Winona Ryder, Leonardo DiCaprio, Hank Azaria, and Debra Messing.

Rating:
Summary: It gets better every time
Review: When I first saw CELEBRITY, I hated it just as much as most of my fellow reviewers. But, I'm a die hard Allen fan, so I saw it again. The film seemed different the second time, the message seemed more defined, but it wasn't like it had changed since the last time. The difference, I knew when it was going to end. The first time it seems to drag on and on . . and on. But the second time round, you are free to listen and absorb everything a lot easier. This is a great movie, with an excelent cast and some hilarious moments.