Failed novelist and mediocre journalist -- excuse me, "travel writer," -- Lee Simon (Branagh) pursues various celebrities, mostly movie stars and models, for a good time and potential career assistance after an ugly divorce from his schoolteacher wife Robin (Davis). Celebrities offer chances to do magazine articles, but Lee also wants to peddle a screenplay that could use the backing of a star. We see him butter up and frolic with actress Nicole Oliver (Griffith), race around all night in the wake of a supermodel (Theron), flirt off and on with waitress and struggling actress Nola (Ryder), and go on a coke-addled road trip with enfant terrible film star Brandon Darrow (DiCaprio). Meanwhile, Robin has a breakdown, slowly picks herself up and meets a successful and desirable TV producer, Tony Gardella (Mantegna). Branagh does an amazing job of mimicking Woody Allen's vocal mannerisms, various familiar faces do cameos (from Donald Trump and the Buttafuocos to Allison Janney, Aida Turturro and Erica Jong), but this 1998 movie is somewhat aimless and cold-hearted. A scene where a "working girl" played by Bebe Neuwirth tries to teach Robin about oral technique on a banana and chokes starts funny but goes a bit over the top.
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The review of this Movie prepared by David Loftus
CELEBRITY is a movie written and directed by Woody Allen in 1998.
Kenneth Branagh has just divorced his wife Judy Davis. He is journalist, meets a lot of celebrities and tries, without any success, to present the screenplay he has just written to the actors he interviews. His ex-wife, after a severe depression, accidentally meets Joe Mantegna, a TV producer, and soon hosts a famous show about celebrities.
Bitter and black & white Woody Allen producton.
The review of this Movie prepared by Daniel Staebler
