If they're able to make synthetic actresses in the future that are as hot as Rachel Roberts then count me in as wanting the virtual actress. She is a goddess.
S1m0ne (2002)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:154
Fresh:78
Rotten:76
Average Rating:5.8/10
Consensus: The satire in S1m0ne lacks bite, and the plot isn't believable enough to feel relevant.
Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis:
"I can't work with a fake."
-- Viktor Taransky
In Hollywood, the land of illusion, never have those words rung so true… until S1M0NE.
She is the ultimate director's fantasy. Unlike her flesh...
"I can't work with a fake." In Hollywood, the land of illusion, never have those words rung so true… until S1M0NE.
She is the ultimate director's fantasy. Unlike her flesh and blood colleagues, she won't get old, won't gain an ounce. She won't get drunk, will never need rehab. She doesn't have an agent, manager, entourage or religious guru. She won't demand a bigger trailer or a private jet. She does all of her own stunts. She doesn't need a body double. She has no problem with nudity - clothes are simply an option. She's programmed to love any script she's offered. She's not interested in money. The only power she craves comes from an electrical outlet.
Meet S1M0NE.
Viktor Taransky (Al Pacino) is a down and out Academy Award -nominated director who just lost his last shot at a comeback when his temperamental flesh and blood actress (Winona Ryder in a cameo role as Nicola Anders) walked off his movie Sunrise, Sunset. And when she left, so did Taransky's self-respect. Fired by his ex-wife and studio head Elaine Christian (Catherine Keener), Taransky just lost any hope of recapturing his former life with Elaine and their daughter Lainey (Evan Rachel Wood). But then computer genius Hank Aleno (Elias Koteas) shows up…
Although Hank is not long for this world, he is certain his creation will be in the right hands - Taransky's. Although Taransky initially rebuffs Hank's insane proposal, Hank has the last say. He bequeaths the software to Taransky that will change his life forever: Simulation One. Just a few key strokes and an overnight sensation is born: S1M0NE. Suddenly, Taransky has a taste of the success he always craved and the world's most beloved star under his thumb.
Or does he?
An intrepid tabloid reporter, Max Sayer (Pruitt Taylor Vince), is doing his best to challenge that. And his pursuit becomes a little sweeter when Taransky's immaculate matrix starts to take on a life of her own.
In a twist of comedic consequences the Omniscient Taransky never anticipated, the creation…or creature… is about to show the creator the meaning of "Eternity Forever."
Suddenly, real never looked so good.
New Line Cinema presents S1M0NE, written, directed and produced by Academy Award nominated screenwriter Andrew Niccol (writer/director of Gattaca, and writer/producer of The Truman Show), a comedy about one man's truth found in the great lie perpetuated by celebrity culture. It stars Academy Award winner and multiple nominee Al Pacino (Scent of A Woman), Academy Award nominee Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich), Evan Rachel Wood (ABC's "Once And Again"), Jay Mohr (Pay It Forward), Emmy Award winner Pruitt Taylor Vince (Nurse Betty), Elias Koteas (Exotica), Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore) and Stanley Anderson (Armageddon). And introducing S1M0NE as herself.
Bradley Cramp (Gattaca) is executive producer. The creative team includes Director of Photography Edward Lachman (Erin Brockovich), Production Designer Jan Roelfs (Gattaca), Costume Designer Elisabetta Beraldo (Frequency) and Editor Paul Rubell (The Insider).
New Line Cinema releases S1M0NE (rated PG-13 by the M.P.A.A. for "some sensuality") nationwide on August 23rd, 2002.
-- © New Line Cinema
-- Viktor Taransky
Starring: Al Pacino, Catherine Keener, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Jay Mohr
Starring: Al Pacino, Catherine Keener, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Jay Mohr, Rachel Roberts, Jason Schwartzman, Tony Crane, Elias Koteas, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos
Director: Andrew Niccol
Director: Andrew Niccol
Screenwriter: Andrew Niccol
Producer: Andrew Niccol
Composer: Carter Burwell
Studio: New Line Cinema
Reviews for S1m0ne
The result is gorgeous, if ultimately shallow -- much like Simone herself.
Has much to tell us about the nature of celebrity, the dangerously competitive world of show business, the price we pay for illusion, and our insatiable appetite for the sordid details of private lives.
Sure, the film is a strange vehicle for Pacino. But he pulls the part off perfectly.
Clearly, Niccol is a writer-director who enjoys examining the blurry boundary between the real and the illusionary.
Simone, for all its flaws, offers an enjoyable look at the machinations of moviedom and fame.
Feels like a premise, followed by an hour of dead air, followed by an ending.
Simone is a creation that does have it all – comedy, brains, ideas, beauty and discussion.
It is great fun to see Pacino do farce and the movie has some deliciously sharp satire.
When your subject is illusion versus reality, shouldn't the reality seem at least passably real?
A clever, innovative satire of movies and consumer technology that marches to its own drumbeat and comes up with continual surprises.
It's little more than A Star Is Born floating through cyberspace, Celebrity streamed over a computer monitor.
Niccol gives audiences a very amusing puzzle about authenticity, fraud, and the uses and abuses of technology.
Latest News for S1m0ne
April 29, 2005:
Lions Gate Warms Up to the "Lord of War"
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