Celebrity (1998) Directed by Woody Allen

Nick :
I was quite confused watching Celebrity. It said on the box written and directed by Woody Allen, yet it felt like I was watching a poor late period Robert Altman movie. Lee (Kenneth Branagh) and Robin (Judy Davis) go there separate way after 16 years of marriage. Allen's film follows there contrasting love lives after the divorce. This movie is also some vague comment on the nature of Celebrity and it's various levels of. This is one of those Woody films where people say Fuck a lot and the always excellent Black & White cinematography is often stunning. Branagh plays this film's Woody persona and of course it's a direct impersonation. That must be weird directing someone impersonating you who has captured every mannerism and vocal inflection perfectly. Branagh and his character annoy, on the other hand Judy Davis is ever reliable turning in the only performance in the film that at least attempts to keep you interested. There are also some fine cameos most notably Leonardo DiCaprio as a coke snorting self destructive actor and Charlize Theron as a nymphomaniac supermodel. You can also find drifting in and out of scenes the likes of Melanie Griffith, Winona Ryder, Joe Mantegna, Gretchen Moll and Bebe Neuwirth. This film really did nothing for me, its attempts at humor were poor and strangely for a Woody Allen film characters that were vacuous and uninteresting. A cynical bore fest.

Astrid:
Ok. I am back at home and haven't seen a movie for two weeks. It seems like a good idea to start safest: Woody, please. But hey, what has happened? Celebrity is the most un-woody-like Allen film I have seen. I thought he could always be trusted, but now I feel Woody has been lost just like everyone else. The script is not funny, it is bitsy and unattached. Charlize Theron and other amazing beauties appear in the film just to titillate, nothing more. Even I do not believe that these girls could be intelligent. Young Leonardo DeCaprio is probably the most entertaining camio in the movie, but what does it have to do with W.A. humour? Nothing. And what the hell, my pet-hate most annoying actress of the 1990's Winona Ryder is supposed to be the central tits&brains package of this disjointed black&white bore. Woody, were you just trying to be current here? Even your irony was lost on me.
(After-thought: I am so exhausted after the last two weeks of my life that it could be I missed all the jokes and wit because I had nothing in my brain.)