Simone [S1m0ne] *** (2002, Al Pacino, Catherine Keener, Rachel Roberts) – Classic Movie Review 1790

Writer-director Andrew Niccol’s bright 2002 fantasy comedy drama S1m0ne provides an excellent vehicle for Al Pacino as a failing film-maker called Viktor Taransky who constructs a ‘synthespian’.

Taransky’s film is endangered when his star walks off, so he decides to digitally create an actress to substitute for her. Simone (Rachel Roberts) is a computer-generated digital actress, whose beauty and charisma so quickly impress the world she becomes an overnight sensation, though everyone thinks she’s real.

Niccol’s amusing Hollywood satirical comedy starts well but turns out to be patchy and soon begins to lack edge and power. Yet it still entertains well enough, with a highly entertaining turn from Pacino expectedly the film’s main attraction and the good cast another strong asset.

Jay Mohr, Andrew McFarlane, Catherine Keener, Winona Ryder, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Jason Schwartzman and Evan Rachel Wood also star. Lower down the cast are Benjamin Salisbury, Jeffrey Pierce, Jenni Blong, Robert Musgrave, Deborah Rawlings, Rod Simmons, Stanley Anderson and Daniel von Bargen. It’s a particularly strong ensemble of players.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1790

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