and keeping in mind the present day's situation in Hollywood! Hollywood need to be sarcastic and Simone is the answer.

digitally fabricate a role and incorporate her into the real production footages would take 100 computer engineers and days of work to render each frame...... And, in the movie Simone only needed Al Pacino's solo job to do the motion-detection, dubbing and everything, using one PC. Of course this is a joke, but again anyone paying too much attention to that missed the point of the movie, that medias produce idols, idols made money and made the line between reality and illusion blur. In this crazy logic yet again accepted by most of us in the public, we can't laugh all the comedic characters portrayed without looking at ourselves. And frankly speaking, Niccol always knew how to end a movie in a satisfying way. S1m0ne is not an exception, that just when everyone thought the story will go in the logically-favored direction, it turned to be better.You need a good director to master someone like Al Pacino, and that means certainly not averagely-good, but really good. Before S1m0ne, I always thought Pacino only fits either outrageous roles or traumatic roles or both. But S1m0ne proved he can also be as funny as Jim Carrie. Given all the chaotic and idiotic situations in the movie, Pacino pretty much held true to his outrageous and traumatic nature but pulled off one of the best roles in his career. Robert Deniro, Dustin Hoffman both had similar roles in a similar genre Wag the Dog and What Just Happened and none of their performances can match Pacino's. Besides, S1m0ne really made What Just Happened looked like amateurish work.Al last, as the movie's rating kept dropping for years, the ideas in it actually are approaching us. I am looking forward to director Niccol's next project. Keep it up Mr Niccol!

escaping from the ugly actuality to another phony one but comfortable, to relish it, then be addicted to it. It's, in the same time, a story about funny director's vendetta on his bosses to regain his dignity and achieve what he merits of appreciation by the ultimate scheme, or rather the triumph of little smart man over huge stupid world, and that's the beauty of it; to be good philosophical, satirical, even comical movie all in one.I can't help but mentioning its clever situations, so aims, which made the whole movie a long clever moment: the director launches Simone saying: "I am the death of real!", leading a new age where the unreality becomes the only available reality. Simone, the beloved star now, talks completely dull, however all the viewers love her, believe her, and agree with her. Or Simone directs a meaningless film, and all the audience applauds making the ugly idol to worship it , observe how they ask about her after it, and not about the lousy film I've seen that many times before in my lifetime! . The director's inability when it came to killing her, which makes it the most comic "Frankenstein" ever, where this time, the people love the monster and reject its death!Moreover, all refuses to believe the director's confesses about Simone, as we live a world of delicious fancy, where counterfeiting is the ruling logic, hence the true thing will be not only scarce but refused; so when life is false.. truth would be the imagination. The lead's surrender at the end to live as life imprisonment with unreal image, otherwise he'll lose his success amongst idiots who adore chimera. And the hint in killing Simone's creator by eye cancer, or rather how adhesion to the computer screen, or any screen, for too much time just destroys the viewer, while there is another world out there, real world, that deserves to be lived.I loved extra satiric points: Simone's performance wins an Oscar as if all of Hollywood actresses is lower than holographic image! Or why not Simone / the powerful delusion goes into the world of politics at the end, it's the same game but with nations' people instead of crazy viewers. Some satire makes it impossible to not connect it with George. W. Bush's era when the movie was produced!It's not where the joke is on you Hollywood, it's on you human. And I believe that's the very reason why it didn't turn into a hit, and why anybody might hate it, because some can't laugh at themselves, especially when it dashes - for instance - Hollywood icons into pieces, denuding the holy truth that you cherish as giant lie.The script, the direction, and the acting made a perfect job. Thank God that it has Al Pacino as the lead; as it gives ultra-enjoyment in the second watching, and also because it's one of his finest movies lately in the commercial phase of him at the 2000s, amongst sure lower ones such as: The Recruit , Ocean's Thirteen , 88 Minutes , Righteous Kill , etc.This is a wild satiric comedy. It's rare to watch a work about the effect of illusion and to be as perfect as this. The movie compressed its idea skillfully, being cynical to the max, mocking at the fast delusion so all the human stupidity. Actually the mocking was at our age as well, to assure one genius conception: "Our ability to manufacture fraud now exceeds our ability to detect it". It reminds me with what Dario Fo said once in one of his plays: "Sometimes illusion is more believable than reality".Few times in my life I felt entertained out of a movie as a fine mental experience and a "movie" in the same time. In the last years, the American cinema lacked this kind of "movies" extremely. But Simone did it superbly, representing the perfect deal for me as profoundly meaningful and highly amusing.It's really unbelievable. Or more correctly speaking: unbelievable yet real too.

the film. Even her name is an abbreviation for the computer program that has made her possible: Simulation One.When Hollywood diva Wynona Ryder walks off director Viktor Taransky's Pacino film unfinished for nothing but silly reasons, his career is finally in the dumpster. He is offered salvation when a computer whiz, played in a fabulous cameo turn by Elias Koteas, offers him the solution.Taransky with the aid of the computer creates SIMONE the perfect actress. She doesn't talk back, does what she's told and doesn't make trouble. Made up from parts of the very best that Hollywood has to offer she is breathtakingly beautiful. She becomes bigger than life itself which McNicholl cleverly shows by placing Simone's picture on the sides of three story buildings and has Pacino or other mortals walk by in front the portraits. As an actress Simone is less than brilliant, but no one seems to notice. In fact, that is the point, nothing this woman does is wrong. The public as McNicholl's character Christoff in the TRUMAN SHOW says `accepts whatever Universe that is presented to them as real.' McNichol tell us in both SIMONE and TRUMAN SHOW that people believe what they want to believe; what they feel comfortable believing. SIMONE says that your eyes will lie to you. That what you see is only true if that is what you want it to be. It is a warning to a complacent society to be on guard. The media is capable of creating their reality, one that will make us happy, warm and fuzzy, in order to control what we see, think and feel. That they in fact all ready do this through advertisement and slanted, controlled news. It warns us not to blindly trust what we are shown by the media. SIMONE reminds us of elements in WAG THE DOG where a fictious war is created and since it is shown on TV we will believe it. SIMONE is both hilarious and thought provoking. Pacino's performance as the washed up film director takes on a rather Dr. Frankenstein feel when his creation becomes uncontrollable, not for what she does but for the way that the public reacts to her. After she becomes big he can't admit to the fraud because no believes him and he can't kill her off because the public refuses to let her die. Pacino is brilliant. You cannot go wrong with this one, it's a winner.

become more relevant with time. Simone is a very well executed film and raises thought-provoking questions though nothing new about the industry and the proverbial "human condition" while being funny. I, too, was pleasantly surprised.

Hank shows up, he presents Viktor with a computer program, before he dies of a tumor, that will change his life forever: It's called Simulation One. Just a few strokes on the key board and an overnight sensation is born: S1m0ne.The movie was bashed both critically and financially, but I don't know why. Taking the critics's side, I'll admit, the writing and aspect of the film is weak and of course slightly unrealistic, but that's exactly what a film is. On-screen performances are what's most important to everyone and that's what the digital character S1m0ne is. Everyone instantly loves her and in turn, Viktor gains the fame he always wanted with his films Sunrise, Sunset and Eternity Forever. He still however, cannot admit to the world the fraud he has committed. Later on, his beautiful computer-generated leading lady gets the better of him. Ultimately, he tries to crash her career and reputation, but the world loves her even more.On a personal note, I like this film mainly because of Al Pacino and the comical cosmic feeling you get from a science-fiction movie. It's nice to see Pacino in a simple role for a change, instead of the complex and sometimes rough characters he often plays, such as police detectives and men of power and/or authority. One of the small-time extra sides to this pleasant film is Pacino's look as he's always looked younger for his age and Evan Rachel Wood's who plays Viktor's teenage daughter Lainey last appearance before her rise-to-fame Academy Award nominated film Thirteen. S1m0ne is nothing special, but it stays simple and cute. It's fun to watch and very tempting.

computer generated characters. Is this a threat to the big star system? This is the main theme of the movie. The second, and maybe even more important is the cult for icons, the morbid fascination of the public with the life of celebrities. The two themes play well together, combined with the excellent portrait that Al Pacino creates for his Faustian director. I liked the movie. It has enough interesting material to keep the interest. The weaker points are the length - yet another film which would have benefit if it was 10-15 minutes shorter - and the final which is too conventional relative to the originality of the rest of the script. 8/10 on my personal scale - go and see or rent it, you will not be disappointed.

out in the end. Highly recommended for everyone who's seeking new concepts in the recent movies.

film and comes up with the alternative - create a superstar by using a digital synthespian, a creature who via computer codes is destined to do anything the creator decides. And voila! Simone or rather S1m0ne - Sim-One, the technology used to creature such ventures. Viktor is saved as Simone Rachel Roberts becomes the superstar of Viktor's dreams - winning awards, and Viktor's heart - only requiring that he ultimately tell the public of his sham, a deed he attempts to avoid through means that place him in big trouble. The story is fantasy, but in Niccol's hands the fantasy becomes possibility and makes us question just how far advanced have we become...perhaps too far. The strong supporting cast includes, along with Winona Ryder, Catherine Keener, Benjamin Salisbury, Jay Mohr, Evan Rachel Woods, and of course the digitally altered Rachel Roberts. The test of a good comedy is whether it can incorporate tragedy and still entertain. This film succeeds. Grady Harp