Hey folks, Harry here with another look at Niccol's SIMONE which screened again yesterday at AFM. I'm still very interested in checking this one out. To see how it plays out. One, you should always see everything that Pacino does... that's in the film geek's guide to life... page 112 if I remember correctly. Here ya go....
Harry,
Here's a quick review of Simone, which I saw this afternoon at AFM. In Simone, Al Pacino plays Viktor, a two-time Oscar nominee (for short film) whose new film falls apart after his leading lady (Winona Ryder) quits because her trailer is not as big as the leading man's trailer.
Desperate to finish his masterpiece, he happens across this crazy computer programmer, dying of cancer, who offers him a solution to his problem.
The solution is not a headshot, but a hard drive. Inside the hard drive is everything he needs to create Simone, a digital actress. Nine months later, Viktor's new opus is greeted with worldwide acclaim, due mostly to the perfect performance of Simone. Of course since Simone doesn't really exist, she can't do press, she can't rehearse with other actors, etc. So as Simone becomes the toast of Hollywood, Viktor must find different and more creative ways to keep people from discovering Simone's secret, while also using her to further his own directing career.
There are about 5 major laughs in Simone (which I consider a lot), but the whole was not as big as the parts. First of all, Andrew Niccol (who is about this far from being a genius) flubs the screenplay: it's flabby and not that sharp. It should have been more satirical and more biting. More like "The Player." Plus, Niccol is director is oddly miscast, as it were. He's trying to wedge his austere, mature directing style (so awesome in Gattica) into a light comedy. It works in spots, but it becomes awkward.
Carter Burwell's score is a disappointment, especially because he's my favorite composer. I even loved his Conspiracy Theory score! Here, it's uninspired, light comedy music.
As mentioned, I was busting up with laughter about 5 times during the movie. Pacino is fine and I'm glad to see him underplay a comedy role, but the movie really doesn't deserve him. Catherine Keener is good as Viktor's ex-wife and whoever played their daughter did a great job. She was adorable and a good little actress. Taylor Pruitt Vince (or something like that) gives solid support as a reporter from Echo, a tabloid. Simone goes uncredited, but she's played by some hot blonde. Simone is not computer generated, like in Final Fantasy. And a rather pasty-looking Jay Mohr plays Viktor's favorite leading man.
In all, a mild disappointment, but not without its moments. Still, I'll take a misstep from Niccol over other director's best film.
Rufus Roughcut
