S1m0ne (2002)

A producer's film is endangered when his star walks off, so he decides to digitally create an actress to substitute for the star, becoming an overnight sensation that everyone thinks is a real person.

Director:

Andrew Niccol

Writer:

Andrew Niccol

Stars:

Al Pacino, Benjamin Salisbury, Catherine Keener

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Al Pacino	...	Viktor Taransky
Benjamin Salisbury	...	Production Assistant
Winona Ryder	...	Nicola Anders
Darnell Williams	...	Studio Executive #1
Jim Rash	...	Studio Executive #2
Ron Perkins	...	Studio Executive #3
Jay Mohr	...	Hal Sinclair
Catherine Keener	...	Elaine Christian
Evan Rachel Wood	...	Lainey Christian Taransky
Jeffrey Pierce	...	Kent
Jeff Williams	...	Man in Suit
Rachel Roberts	...	Simone (as Simone)
Mitzi Martin	...	Premiere Audience Member
Carole Androsky	...	Premiere Audience Member (as Carol Androsky)
Christopher Neiman	...	Premiere Audience Member

Storyline

The career of a disillusioned producer, who is desperate for a hit, is endangered when his star walks off the film set. Forced to think fast, the producer decides to digitally create an actress "Simone" to sub for the star--the first totally believable synthetic actress. The "actress" becomes an overnight sensation, with a major singing career as well, and everyone thinks she's a real person. However, as Simone's fame skyrockets, he cannot bear to admit his fraud to himself or the world.

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Plot Keywords:

actress | fraud | film set | death | husband wife relationship | 

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Taglines:

A star is... created.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sensuality

Details

Official Sites:

"Amalgamated Films" (New Line [United States]) "Eternity Forever - Amalgamated Films" (New Line [United States])

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 August 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Simone

Filming Locations:

Greystone Park & Mansion - 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$222,276 (Japan) (12 September 2003)

Gross:

$1,155,054 (Japan) (26 September 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Niccol Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hank Aleno's last name is an anagram of "alone".

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Goofs

When Viktor says "with Hank's tragic passing his secret did die with him" we see a newspaper with a message about Hank's passing under a glass, which is supposedly on the table in front of Victor. But there is no newspaper there in any other shot.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Production Assistant: Uh, Mr. Taransky, she's...
Viktor: She's walking? Don't tell me she's walking. She can't walk!
[heads off running]
Viktor: Nicola!

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Crazy Credits

The special thanks list at the end of the credits includes an acknowledgement to Hank Aleno Software.

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Connections

References Gattaca (1997)

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Soundtracks

"Patricia"
Written by Dámaso Pérez Prado
Performed by Pete Snell

User Reviews

Uneven, but definitely worth watching

Ever since I first saw Gattaca, I've been looking for other films directed by Andrew Niccol. This being one of them, and so far, one of the only ones(but I certainly hope he makes more films in the future... he has some very interesting ideas), I simply had to watch. I was not disappointed. Like Gattaca, this is science fiction; however, Gattaca is more of a all-out sci-fi film, and S1m0ne only has some elements of science fiction. Before I comment on the sci-fi, I must comment on the great humor in the film. This is the first of Niccol's films(Truman Show, Gattaca and then this) I've seen that has comedy(in the form of satire, that is). Truly great comedy, as well. You know why? Because it's real. It's stuff that we can recognize, stuff that we know from ourselves, from the people around us. The comedy mostly revolves around how easily everyone is tricked, how quick they are to believe in something without any proof. I believe it was Voltaire who said: "If there were no God, it would be necessary to invent one". We want to be deceived, we want to be tricked, we want to have something to hope for and believe in. I mean, let's be honest; that is the very basis for why religion exists, and why people claim to spot UFOs. People need to believe in something... and they believe in Simone. Despite what her maker has her do, despite no one ever having met her in person, people love her. They need to. They need someone, something to believe in. The many scenes of Viktor covering up Simone not being real, creating the illusion of her in various forms to satisfy other people's urge to see her, meet her, talk to her may be somewhat slapstick in their nature, but they only emphasize how ludicrous and easily bought the everyday man is. They want to believe it so badly, they simply can't accept anything else. This seems to be what most critics of this film are missing. Their refusal to accept it is simply them denying human nature. As Pacino's character realizes near the end: "She's indestructible". It is not possible to remove her, because the public won't accept it. She must exist. I noticed a lot of references to the story of Frankenstein in this film. It is basically the 21st century's version of Frankenstein, with some computer-based science fiction elements and set in Hollywood. I have never seen a film that so openly mocks the superficiality of Hollywood, and for that reason alone, anyone should see it. The plot is very good, though it develops at a somewhat uneven pace... in fact, the pacing seems a tad off. The acting is mostly very good. The special effects are top-notch... they were in 2002, and they still are. This could have been better, but it was still very good. I recommend this to anyone who is interested from reading the plot outline, people who enjoyed Gattaca and fans of science fiction as commentary on real issues. 7/10