Fantastic!

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

"Simon" is one of the strangest movies I have seen in quite some time. It's not the premise that is so strange - the bare bones of the plot read like they could be made into a typical comedy - but rather the execution. Although there are a number of attempts at humor throughout the movie (and I admit that I did find some of these attempts amusing), there is a strong serious undercurrent. It seems that the movie is trying to say something, though what that is I cannot say for sure. But there are deeper problem with the movie. It takes quite a while for it to get going, for one thing. And once it gets going, it seems to have a number of moments where key footage seems missing or wasn't filmed at all in the first place. But all the same, I am kind of glad that I saw the movie, because it's the rare major studio production to really be strange and offbeat - which is refreshing in an age of cookie cutter plots and lack of imagination. I would recommend this movie to viewers who want something different and are ready to accept something that is an interesting failure of sorts.

Alan Arkin does love mind-bender roles, doesn't he?, and this gem was a virtual playground for him!The players are all top-notch, and it's never dull for a moment.. but to explain it... hmm, wow.. well, it's really a film you have to judge for yourself.. It's very much like Woody Allen's "Sleeper", which I could watch all day long and still laugh as if I'd never experienced it before! And also herein are wisps of Arkin's most well known work, "Catch-22", in that it does deal with the mind and all its weird wacky wonders!It's a sort of surreal fun romp, that takes you on one velly intellesting ride.. the scenarios are all hilarious, and it's a must-see for anyone who loves Alan Arkin, Austin Pendleton, and especially (Woody)Allenesque films, that take you just a bit to the left of the center of reality~ ..Ah, but then, that's trying to describe it, and again I recommend that you find it if you can, (I believe it has been put to DVD now), and experience it for yourself, because I would be hard-pressed to whittle it down to a simple description myself!It's a screeeam, it's got a fabulous cast, and it's got a heck of a lot of phenomenal writers and creators behind it.. A highly underrated classic! . . . Do yourself a favor and see it! :)

"Simon" is dated by a number of the foci of different scenes (sensory-deprivation tanks and princess phones, for example). Still, it is one of my favorite comedies despite it's flaws. I can't qualify its appeal to me as entirely rational or securely grounded in aesthetic standards. I saw it on one occasion with a close friend of mine and my house mates at that time. He and I laughed our heads off while the house mates were puzzled by both the film and our reaction. They didn't like it. It's probably a safe bet that those who like the film "Annie Hall" will like this. The introduction to the secret government scientific foundation is a gas as is the "evolution" sequence. The composition of the closing shot is almost painfully beautiful but its impact is much diminished in versions formatted for television.

This movie is a true classic. I would compare it with Dr. Strangelove or A Clockwork Orange.**POSSIBLE SPOILER** This is not a true spoiler, but may give away some parts of the plot. Simon is a college professor who wants to be special. He plays around with sensory deprevation in an attempt to find his "inner self". A bunch of think-tank scientists convince him that he is an alien with unexpected results.He soon goes beyond them, and releases a "stupid gas" on them and escapes. Fred Gwynn makes a great role as the General in charge of recapturing him.He then goes and contacts a cult that worships TV and uses their ability to take over satelite transmission to create his own "fourth network" (remember in 1980 there were only 3).This is a great movie if you want to relax. Alan Arkin and Madeline Kahn are excellent, along with the rest of the cast.