What makes it different from others?

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Writer-director Woody Allen does not appear in this lesser comedic effort (he did himself a service by bowing out), but he's nearly present just the same. Kenneth Branagh does an amazing Woody Allen impersonation as a fidgety, horny newspaper and magazine writer who has various encounters with sexy women after divorcing his neurotic wife, played by a drab, worn-out Judy Davis. Melanie Griffith is very good as a glamorous starlet, Winona Ryder is cute as a waitress and movie extra, Charlize Theron is positively feral as predatory supermodel, and Leonardo DiCaprio is very convincing (unpleasantly so) as a havoc-wreaking, foul-mouthed movie star. But the meet-cutes and idle chatter between these characters do not a movie make--these people are so tiresome most of the time, they bore themselves. Allen takes a bit of chance here--this isn't his usual collection of smart-talking, classical music-loving New Yorkers--however the male-female hang-ups are still the same, depressingly so. *1/2 from ****

Woody Allen's seriocomic sendup of stars behaving badly falls somewhere between his more astute films and his handful of duds. There are many great moments here, but they fail to come together as a whole. Kenneth Branagh does a decent job impersonating Woody Allen, but it's sad that a role so clearly written for the Allen persona had to be performed by someone younger. Judy Davis' performance is way too overwrought and manic. Couldn't wait for her scenes to be over and there are far too many of them. It's a role that would have been more well suited to Diane Keaton at a younger age. Other stars fare much better. Charlize Theron excels as an oversexed fashion model. Leonardo DiCaprio's episode is a shrewd display of egotism run amok - I don't think Leo's ever been better than he is in this movie. Winona Ryder comes across well as a struggling young actress who leaves a string of broken hearts behind her. Beautiful black and white photography of New York City, an Allen trademark, keeps things visually interesting. "Celebrity" should have said more with less.

Celebrity (1998) ** (out of 4) Disappointing feature from writer-director Woody Allen has him taking shots of celebrities but the end result is just bland. Kenneth Branagh plays a Manhattan entertainment writer who starts to lose control of his life after getting a divorce from his wife (Judy Davis). A year later he's trying to get a script and novel off the ground while his ex hits a string of good luck after suffering a breakdown. CELEBRITY was mangled by critics when it was released but over the past few years it seems to have gained a small cult following but this time out I must say I'm on the side of the critics. I'm sure there were some good ideas going around Allen's head but whatever happened between his mind and paper is something rather shocking because the problem here is without question his screenplay. It's weird to think but at 113- minutes this here is actually one of the longest running films from Allen and what's so amazing is that it probably says the least. The film is certainly trying to make fun of rich New Yorkers and stuck-up and spoiled Hollywood types but there's never any hint of insider's knowledge and it's as if Allen didn't want to go all out. I'd probably go as far as to call the screenplay lazy. Just take a look at a young, violent actor played by Leonardo DiCaprio. The entire sequence with him screaming and trying to beat up his girlfriend just comes off very weak. You even have a bit with a model (Charlize Theron) who has an orgasm no matter where she's touched. Neither of these segments are any good but the sad thing is that they're perhaps the best stuff in the film. Another problem I had was with the performance by Branagh. There's no question that he's one of the most talented actors out there but he's just horrible playing what's basically a version of Woody Allen. The mannerisms don't work and the actor just never captures that nervous twitch of Allen. One of the best performances in the film actually goes to Winonna Ryder playing a love interest in the film. Davis is also pretty good in her role but the screenplay doesn't do her character any favors. Michael Lerner, Joe Mantegna, Gretchen Mol and Melanie Griffith round out the supporting cast. CELEBRITY is without question a rare misfire from Allen. The only real thing going for it is the brilliant cinematography by Sven Nykvist who makes the film look a lot better than it actually is.

So, basically, this is Woody Allen remaking La Dolce Vita. The movie starts out with Woody Allen ('scuse me, "Lee Simon", which is Kenneth Branaugh basically proving what I previously thought impossible -- that somebody who was not Woody Allen could pull off Woody Allen) at the highest in his life, getting beautiful women, enjoying the company of the famous elite, getting anxious over nothing... and his wife Robin Simon (Judy Davis), who is at her lowest point, being dumped by Lee and considering plastic surgery. Over the course of a year, their lives will completely reverse course, as misfortune hits Lee and fortune picks up Robin, and in the meantime no end to silliness and celebrity-related nonsense keep things chaotic, moving, and Allen-style funny.It's a pretty good movie but it's rather exhausting. At least this movie makes Allen's womanizing seem a bit more understandable, as Branaugh is much more charismatic. One of Leonardo DiCaprio's best roles is in here as a coked out screen star. Judy Davis does an amusing impression of Blanche from A Streetcar Named Desire, and then later performs fellatio on a banana. It certainly will entertain you, if you're the type to handle Allen's neurotic approach to humor. I for one am a friend.The point? Apparently, love, celebrity, all those things that people want just strips down to luck. Of course, whence in it, it all becomes so solipsistic, but this comedy of errors shows that the most solipsistic ones are the most blind to the precariousness of their position.--PolarisDiB