Celebrity
by Woody Allen
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bebe Neuwirth, Charlize Theron, Judy Davis, Kenneth Branagh, Leonardo DiCaprioDirector: Woody Allen
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 113 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1999-08-10
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Miramax
Product features:
- A reporter (Kenneth Branagh) assigned to the celebrity beat finds himself on a collision course with four of the most outrageous people he"s ever met: a sensuous starlet (Melanie Griffith), an-out-of-control movie star (Leonardo DiCaprio), an aspiring actress (Winona Ryder) and a sexy supermodel (Charlize Theron). Together they"re going to take him for an unforgettable walk on the wild side of fam
Movie Reviews of Celebrity
Movie Review: One of Woody's best, and most under appreciated films..
Summary: 5 Stars
"Celebrity" is one of Woody's best, and most under appreciated and also unjustly attacked films. The production is first rate, the characters diverse, and the acting -- from Kenneth Branagh, Judy Davis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Melanie Griffith, Joe Mantegna -- as good as in any Allen film. It is a wonderful and highly observant film, that seems to offend many for reasons that no one seems able to really express, other than by resorting to vituperative adjectives and hand wringing.
As far as I can tell, it offends some people because it is thought to be "more of the same" late "Manhattan" period Allen ensemble work -- pity Mozart if he had been cranking out symphonies for these complainers; it is thought to be annoying because Kenneth Branagh does what is, really, a wonderful Allen impression, Woody being too old by the time was made to play the lead in the story; because the characters are more fully developed, and so perhaps more subtle and less immediately amusing, versions of the classic Allen character types that, by the time the film was made, had become well known to audiences impatient for novelty and new amusements from Allen; because, perhaps, many solid middle American types have such an instinctive and deep seated hatred for the particular New York types that populate Allen films that this film evidently pushed the buttons of those audience members to extremes that mandated vicious opining in revenge; and, perhaps, last but not least, because Allen films tend to attract either comedy lovers who are put off by misanthropic elements, or misanthropes who are put off by overly human and flawed characters that don't live up to their notions of worthiness, or which make light of misanthropic virtues.
There's a reason Woody made Stardust Memories, also one of his finest films. The raging disappointment expressed by some toward his more challenging films, and to some of his more phoned in and forgettable ones, points to the creative conflict, and conflicted audience reactions, highlighted in Stardust Memories. All that aside, "Celebrity" is a marvelous film, that surely deserves a better DVD transfer than it receives here. Hopefully, when the entire Allen catalog is given a much needed 16:9 remastering someday, "Celebrity" will re-emerge and be appreciated by new audiences.
Summary of Celebrity
With an incredible all-star cast, this critically acclaimed comedy takes a hysterical look at the pleasures and pitfalls of fortune and fame! Following their divorce, the lives of a restless writer and his inhibited ex-wife take off in outrageously unpredictable directions! While Lee (Kenneth Branagh -- HAMLET, OTHELLO) explores the wilder side of his newfound freedom, Robin (Judy Davis -- DECONSTRUCTING HARRY) begins an improbable transformaiton from neurotic schoolteacher to high-profile T.V. talk show host! Whether it's partying with supermodels, sexy encounters with movie stars, or interviews with the cream of high society, CELEBRITY offers you a riotous excuse to rub shoulders with the kind of people we all love to celebrate!Woody Allen's portrait of the celebrity life--as seen through the eyes of a newly divorced couple--is a black-and-white, New York-style La Dolce Vita that's a chillier flip side to Allen's earlier New York valentine, Manhattan. Despite a few missteps, though, it's an admirable (if dark) and worthy addition to the Allen pantheon. Kenneth Branagh and Judy Davis (both boasting American accents) star as the once-marrieds, each struggling to build new, separate lives in a media-saturated, celebrity-driven world. He tries his hands at celebrity profiles (while peddling a screenplay to any star that will listen) and falls into the lap of a bosomy starlet (Melanie Griffith), the first in a long line of briefly attainable women. She runs into a producer (Joe Mantegna) who offers her a job as a TV personality as well as a loving relationship. This seemingly simple double plot is punctuated with twists and turns in the form of flashbacks and innumerable side trips, all ravishingly photographed in black and white by the legendary Sven Nykvist, and populated by one of Allen's largest casts ever; if you blink you'll miss countless cameos by Isaac Mizrahi, Donald Trump, Hank Azaria, and a host of others.
While Davis is splendid as usual (aside from the requisite nervous breakdown scene she's done one too many times), somebody should have told Branagh to put a kibosh on his Woody Allen imitation, which is so impeccable as to become irritating. His failure in the role, however, isn't entirely his fault, as it's also another in a long line of unlikable male protagonists that Allen has created, as if daring audiences to hate his main characters after loving them in such movies as Manhattan and Annie Hall. He's never more unlikable than in a painful sequence in which he tags along with a spoiled, temperamental teen idol (a shrewd and clever Leonardo DiCaprio) and proves himself the quintessential noodge. Far more enjoyable misadventures with Branagh include Charlize Theron in the film's best performance as a libidinous supermodel with a penchant for echinacea; a stunning Famke Janssen as a successful book editor Branagh almost moves in with; and Winona Ryder, acting like an adult for the first time, as an aspiring actress who catches Branagh's eye more than once. All manage to slip through Branagh's fingers by the end of the film.
Despite the film's lack of focus, Allen aficionados will want this film for at least two wonderful moments, one in which Davis seeks solace from a streetwise fortune teller after she's fleeing her own wedding, and a beautiful nighttime scene in which Branagh romances a captivated Ryder at a subway kiosk. Both episodes prove that Allen, despite the fitful period he's moved into, still has that movie magic. --Mark Englehart
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