'Celebrity' dull performance

By Rhonda Spies, Special to the On-line Forty-Niner

Tuesday, November 24, 1998

The best thing about "Celebrity," written and directed by Woody Allen, is the high profile cast he assembled to act out his interpretation of the world in which he has been a part of for more than three decades.

---

MOVIE REVIEW

---

Everything else is boring, especially the black and white film footage.

The story centers around writer Lee Simon, played by Kenneth Branagh, who portrays his character in perfect Woody-esque manner, and his neurotic ex-wife Robin.

Simon, while realizing his life and novel in progress are dull, convinces himself of the importance of writing celebrity profiles.

He decides to eagerly pursue any attention he can elicit from beautiful people in the business.

In the meantime, Robin, recovering from her divorce, meets a prominent producer who offers her work.

The two fall in love and he turns her into a TV celebrity.

Throughout the movie, Allen stays true to his famous style of storytelling. He subtly makes fun of himself through various characters.

Simon is typically a loser when it comes to interaction with the opposite sex, yet he is drawn to the gorgeous women played by Charlize Theron, Winona Ryder and Melanie Griffith.

In a rare entertaining moment, Robin interviews a hooker and requests a lesson in oral sex. What follows is an amusing and humiliating segment in which the women practice on bananas.

Another highlight is the small role played by Leonardo Dicaprio. He plays an obnoxious, destructive young star. Simon tracks him down to pitch a screenplay idea and ends up witnessing a fight between the young star and his girlfriend which results in a trashed hotel room.

Disturbingly, he is let off the hook for abusing his girlfriend but the policeman gets an autograph out of the whole incident. Dicaprio brings some energy to the otherwise dull movie, but that subsides as soon as he exits.

Overall, the movie has a few funny moments, but not enough to keep the audience amused for two hours. It is interesting to look at the world of celebrities and our obsession with them, but it is nothing to be proud of.