Washed up movie producer Viktor Taransky (Al Pacino) gets fired by his ex-wife, studio mogul Elaine Christian (Catherine Keener). Apparently, his star (Winona Ryder in a cameo role) has walked off his latest flick because he won’t meet her outrageous demands, which include: no cherry ‘Mike &Ikes,’ 1st class airfare for her nanny (even though she has no children) and the biggest trailer on the lot.
Why can’t actors respond to the demands of the studio like they used to, Taransky wants to know. “You’re nostalgic for an era you weren’t even born in,” his ex-wife tells him and if he’s not careful, he will never work in Hollywood again. Then a computer geek named Hank wills Taransky the code for success. SIMULATION ONE — or S1MONE for short, is an incredible 3-D character generator that can create an actress so convincing, it fools the world.
S1MONE is so successful she takes the world by storm — a recording contract, her own fragrance, she even publishes a book on entertaining (watch out Martha Stewart). Interesting and funny things happen, as Taransky becomes jealous of all the attention his star receives. The question is: will he be able to put this ‘genie back in the bottle’?
Taransky hatches a plan — first he’ll destroy S1MONE’s career and if that doesn’t work? Well, viruses are very catchy — even fatal. Perhaps S1MONE better watch out for her health!
This film is written and directed by New Zealander Andrew Nicol, writer/director of “Gattaca” and writer/producer of “The Truman Show.” He demonstrates a wry understanding of the quirks of fame. His healthy sense of satire is light and fun, but it does seem like he’s just taking the concept of Truman just one step further. Al Pacino as Taransky is harried and hilarious. He delivers lines (“Talk about creative differences. The only difference is that you’re not creative”) with just the right flair.
The big question you’ll be left asking yourself is who plays Simone. That is actually one of the more amusing aspects of the film. Check out the credits and see if you believe that Simone plays herself. There are a bunch of spin-off websites that stretch the conceit about as far as it should go. Check out www.realsimone.com.
Mostly Martha
Opening this weekend at exclusively at the Egyptian is my favorite film of this year’s Seattle International Film Festival. While I admittedly didn’t see a lot of films this year, I liked this one enough to see it twice. Directed by the deft hand of German Sandra Nettelbeck, this story combines cooking and romance in the fine tradition of “Chocolat” and “Like Water For Chocolate.”
It stars Martina Gedeck as Martha, an uptight, compulsively neat chef at a fancy restaurant in Hamburg. Unfortunately, Martha is better with pasta than she is with people, but that all changes when her young niece comes to live with her. I highly recommend this film. But be sure you eat first or you’ll be starving by the time its over.
The film also stars the endearing Italian star Sergio Castellitto as Martha’s compassionate competitor.
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