Celebrity (1998)

The fortunes of a husband and wife differ drastically after they divorce.

Director:

Woody Allen

Writer:

Woody Allen

Stars:

Kenneth Branagh, Judy Davis, Leonardo DiCaprio

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Greg Mottola	...	Director
Jeff Mazzola	...	Assistant Director
Dick Mingalone	...	Camera Operator
Vladimir Bibic	...	Director of Photography
Melanie Griffith	...	Nicole Oliver
Francisco Quijada	...	Erno Delucca
Aleksa Palladino	...	Production Assistant
Dan Moran	...	Jackhammer Operator
Peter Castellotti	...	Sound Recordist (as Pete Castellotti)
A. Lee Morris	...	Second Assistant Cameraperson
Douglas McGrath	...	Bill Gaines
Kenneth Branagh	...	Lee Simon
Maurice Sonnenberg	...	Dalton Freed
Winona Ryder	...	Nola
Craig Ulmschneider	...	Daniel - Production Assistant

Storyline

New York City. Forty year old Lee Simon, a critically panned two time novelist who works as a travel writer (a job he hates) to earn a steady living, tells his shocked wife of sixteen years, English teacher Robin Simon, that he wants a divorce. Although he had not been happy with Robin for some time, she who he feels is a bundle of Catholic repressions and neuroses especially when it comes to sex, Lee finally came to the conclusion about wanting a divorce upon attending his high school reunion and seeing a roomful of losers, he believing he turning into one of them if he didn't make a drastic change. He gets a job working as a journalist for an entertainment magazine, while he writes screenplays on the side, he believing the latter a good stepping stone to finishing his third novel if the screenplays works out. The journalist job includes conducting interviews with celebrities, not only to who he can pedal his completed screenplay, but also what he quickly learns to who he has easy ...

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Plot Keywords:

divorce | celebrity | journalist | novel | television producer | 

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Taglines:

A funny look at people who will do anything to get famous... or stay famous.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, sex and some drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 November 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Woody Allen Fall Project 1997

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,588,013, 22 November 1998

Gross USA:

$5,078,660

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,078,660

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sweetland Films, Magnolia Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR (Mono)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kate Winslet was considered for the role of Nola.

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Goofs

During the dance club sequence, the band is miming to a completely different song than what is playing.

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Quotes

Bonnie: Apparently his first two books...
Lee Simon: They were obliterated. I got the 3 esses: self-indulgent, sophomoric, sollipsistic...

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Connections

Featured in Parkinson: Episode #13.10 (1999)

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Soundtracks

Chanel No. 5
(1998)
Written by Michael Moon (as Michael Franano)
Performed by the Michael Moon Band

User Reviews

Woody's best in years

A lot of the reviews have said that this film is one of the weaker recent Woody Allen movies, but I actually thought it was his best since Husbands and Wives. It's much more subtle but every bit as scathing as Deconstructing Harry. Everyone says Woody's films just aggrandize himself, but I feel that his latest few have been exercises in self-loathing.

Certain people (in these very pages) have felt that one is supposed to sympathize with the Branagh character. Certain people, we must remember, are on crack. Branagh plays a low-life louse who gives the word narcissim a whole new meaning. He is looking to revitalize his life by entering the world of celebrities. He is contrasted with his ex-wife (the always amazing Judy Davis... who doesn't she do more films?) who is also looking to change her life, but not necessarily by becoming famous. She does become famous, and near the end she says what I think is the key line: "I've become the kind of person I've always detested, but I'm happier." My friend and I had an argument later about what the film was saying: a) that Judy has given up on seriousness and meaning by becoming a celebrity, but now she's happier, or b) that the "entertainment products" that these people turn out don't matter at all, and that if one can find personal happiness (Judy eventually becomes much more social and comfortable with people) by doing them, then that's great. I don't know, but this is a far more interesting treatise on finding happiness than the dreary "Happiness" was.

This is also the funniest Allen film in years, with two total laugh-out-loud lines which I won't spoil here.

Overall, I felt the celebrity part, and all the walk-ons we not at all the focus of this movie, it just uses that world as a backdrop. This film is also very sweet and real, with the scene in which Judy Davis visits a psychic being one of the most intimate and touching I've seen.

One last thing, it's fun to see a Woody Allen film in New York City, because you can watch the audience trying to identify all the places where the scenes are set.

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