Celebrity

Name: Celebrity
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Released: November 20, 1998
Duration: 113 min
Rating: 42
Cast: Kenneth Branagh

1998

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Mixed or average reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Ratings

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6.1	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 29 Ratings

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Celebrity

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Movie Details & Credits

Miramax Films | Release Date: November 20, 1998 | TV-MA

Starring: Kenneth Branagh

Summary: Woody Allen examines America's fascination with fame and glamour.

Director: Woody Allen

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy

Rating: TV-MA

Runtime: 113 min

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Critic Reviews

F. X. Feeney

Celebrity is one of Woody Allen’s finest. This is a minority opinion….But I prefer Allen when he works in a minor key – “Broadway Danny Rose,” “Radio Days” --precisely because he’s not trying to be profound, only true to firsthand observation. Read full review

Roger Ebert

The movie's shot in black and white; Allen is one of the rare and valuable directors who sometimes insists in working in the format that is the soul of cinema. Read full review

Stephen Hunter

Woody Allen's new film has a few shortcomings but it's a heartfelt cry from what may be the last serious man left in the America as he contemplates what his native land has become. Read full review

Edward Guthmann

If your tolerance for Branagh's shtick and Woody's narrowness of focus is as low as mine, you can take solace in the director's joke on himself. Read full review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Woody Allen at his most inconsequential and insubstantial; don't expect to remember this black-and-white throwaway of comic sketches five minutes after it's over. Read full review

Steve Davis

Purportedly a seriocomic contemplation on a civilization that's lost its way, the movie jabs at America's fascination with its false idols without ever hitting its target. Read full review

J. Hoberman

The Allen persona has always blurred the distinction between his art and his life. Still, one would scarcely expect Allen's attempt to satirize daily life in the National Entertainment State to be this tired, sour, and depressed. Read full review

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User Reviews

stacyshystovska

Feb 28, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. ‘’Celebrity’’ was created by the director and writer, Woody Allen. This dramedy was made and released in 1998. The production began with a budget of $12 million. The main cast consists of Kenneth Branagh and Judy Davis. He would like to be a successful writer. His wife is a teacher. He ruins this marriage and tries to find new opportunities for himself. However, their divorce becomes the starting point for her brilliant career… The characters are true-to-life. The script is natural and the dialogues are emotionally strong. This star-studded movie didn’t become a commercial success, but it attracts attention and people love it.

Written by Anastasiia Shystovska… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

StephenL.

May 28, 2006

almost all of woody's movies are excellent , interesting and more fun to watch than 90% of what's out there. 100 years from now Woody Allen will still be highly regarded but no one will remember the pompous critics such as Charles Taylor who look down on him.

0 of 1 users found this helpful

benido326

May 8, 2012

Being such a big Woody Allen fan, I must confess that my opinion of his films may be skewed a bit. I can tell a bad film from a good film, but the worst, well let's not say worst, he does have a couple of bad ones, but on the ones that are considered bad I see as being just okay, not as badBeing such a big Woody Allen fan, I must confess that my opinion of his films may be skewed a bit. I can tell a bad film from a good film, but the worst, well let's not say worst, he does have a couple of bad ones, but on the ones that are considered bad I see as being just okay, not as bad as some may say. Celebrity is that type of film. Celebrity is what I would say a pretty loose film, that is to say there isn't a straight story. It follows writer Lee Simmons, it's an Allen film so you have to expect to see at least one writer of some sorts, played by Kenneth Branagh as he encounters a number of actors and models for the magazine he works with. As I said before the story is really loose, so we just act as witnesses to his encounters with these people, but it gives us a good portrait of what their lives are like and how crazy and spontaneous they can be and some of them just drag them along for the hell of it. One example is a ten minute segment where Leonardo DiCaprio, a young hot headed actor character, encounters Lee and whisks him off to Atlantic City to see a boxing fight. And then Lee has the opportunity to sleep with Leo's character and two other women. That's just one of the Lee's encounters with the showbiz world we see. There are many others. And while all the Lee story is happening, we follow Lee's ex-wife, played by one of Allen's regulars Judy Davis, as she tries to fix her life after the divorce. She also has a number of encounters with the showbiz world as she gets a job at a TV station. Overall i think the film is okay. Branagh can get a little overbearing as he tries to work with the Allen persona, but i think the situations and the number of cameos, including Hank Azaria, director Greg Mottola, J.K. Simmons, Charlize Theron, and Donald Trump even, make up for it and make the film somewhat enjoyable. It's not Allen's worse, not his best, but fits pretty snugly in the middle.
3/5 C, C+… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Habibiehakim

May 19, 2022

Celebrity is an overlong movie that actually have a fair use of screen time for this type a two perspective film of two characters on their continuation life story that are unfortunately i found it not quite interesting, it's greatly perform with a greatly cast, sometimes there is some goodCelebrity is an overlong movie that actually have a fair use of screen time for this type a two perspective film of two characters on their continuation life story that are unfortunately i found it not quite interesting, it's greatly perform with a greatly cast, sometimes there is some good moment and if it's funny, i laugh but again mostly i still found Celebrity not really a dragging film to watch, overlong making me feel too long, a story that are not quite interesting, i'm just following what they're doing with a not really care feeling, Celebrity didn't quite do it right especially with the cast and the director itself, Woody Allen, somehow someway he was like confused on what he's gonna do with these character and actors, so overall Celebrity didn't really work mostly for me.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Spangle

Aug 10, 2017

Propelled forward by a neurotic energy that has come to define Woody Allen films over the years, Celebrity fits squarely into the definition of "lesser Allen". It is watchable, but it is one of those films that fills you with no guilt when you fall asleep on the couch. As somebody who has aPropelled forward by a neurotic energy that has come to define Woody Allen films over the years, Celebrity fits squarely into the definition of "lesser Allen". It is watchable, but it is one of those films that fills you with no guilt when you fall asleep on the couch. As somebody who has a propensity for closing my eyes for two seconds only to wake up 20 minutes later, Celebrity was simultaneously a guilt-free nap at times and a film that is oddly thought-provoking. Just as smart as Allen's other films, Celebrity is just not funny enough and is far too disjointed to actually work as a complete package, but there is enough half-baked Allen nonsense to satisfy my craving for his neurotic and off-beat style of filmmaking. With an ensemble cast of characters in a story focused on a divorcing couple, Allen's Celebrity is not the comedy-drama about celebrity status that I had expected, but is nonetheless an interesting minor work.

The divorcing couple, Lee (Kenneth Branagh) and Robin Simon (Judy Davis), seem to be headed opposite directions. A travel writer who has an interview scheduled with a major actress, Lee is on his way up. Feeling unsatisfied with having not sewn his wild oats in life, Lee is feeling the itch to divorce Robin, so that is exactly what he does. Robin, meanwhile, is blindsided by this turn of events, having believed everything to be just fine in their marriage. However, in portraying this relationship and how it turns out, Allen's neurosis and own personal anxiety seems to seep through every frame. A writer/novelist, Lee is a man who has it all at first, receiving blowjobs from hot actress Nicole Oliver (Melanie Griffith), dating hot editor Bonnie (Famke Janssen), flirting with hot young actress Nola (Winona Ryder), and going on dates/dancing with a hot supermodel (Charlize Theron). He is even convinced to write his novel and gets some connections to hot young actor Brandon Darrow (Leonardo DiCaprio) to get his screenplay in his hands. Meanwhile, Robin is in a rehab facility run by the Catholic Church and being convinced to get plastic surgery by her best friend. In other words, the two are on opposite ends of the spectrum at first.

However, as always, Allen is neurotic and anxious. In his films, his characters constantly wait for the other shoe to drop. Mirroring his own anxiety about his own life after his own philandering ways, Lee's life begins to fall apart and Robin's takes off with a new marriage and new job leading her to happiness she has never previously experienced. Yet, both are still nagged by neurosis. Both acting as Woody Allen surrogates, Branagh's Lee constantly flails through life with the nervous energy that Allen characters had become known for. With awful timing - going over script notes with Brandon as Brandon has sex with a girl - and a frantic way of talking, Lee is a man who always sounds startled and shocked that words are escaping his mouth. Robin is very similar and quite frantic, excitable, and on-edge. When things go well for her, she looks around wondering why and when it will all go back to normal. As surrogates for Allen himself, both deliver strong performances, while also embodying a constant theme in this film: the constant feeling of dread in the pits of these characters' stomachs. When will their laugh crumble next? Can we ever truly be comfortable and satisfied or must we sit around waiting for it get worse again?

Of course, it is this exact wondering that ruins their life. Had he stayed with his wife, Lee would have been far happier. He would be in a stable marriage with Robin, still in his good job, and content with working on his novel and screenplay without feeling the crushing blow of rejection again. For Robin, she is lucky enough to learn this secret from a psychic who urges her to marry Tony (Joe Mantegna), who makes her happy. With her anxiety making her wonder why something so good is happening to her, she keeps looking for ways that it is going poorly, which will only turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy by the end. Once she stops looking for something wrong and just accepts everything that is good while ignoring the bad, she becomes far more satisfied with her life and her happiness increases infinitely.

With regard to its title, the film does offer some interesting insights on celebrity and "fame", but on a very personal level. Citing Andy Warhol's belief that everybody has 15 minutes of fame, the characters laugh it off, but it does seem to be the case in the film. For both Lee and Robin, they have moments at the peak of their happiness only for it to rapidly crumble all around them without a warning. It creeps up on them out of nowhere, destroys their happiness, and leads to them crashing out of the spotlight. The characters around them in the film - namely those connected with show business - similarly do anything they can to stay in the spotlight and worry about public appearances to an absurd degree.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

J-Shap

Aug 27, 2011

While the depictions of celebrities are pretty spot on, this film is meandering and largely devoid of laughs or enough bite to truly have the impact of the film it emulates (La Dolce Vita). Celebrity is like listening to an old man ramble for hours.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JohnC.

Jan 7, 2006

Woody Allen's personna does not translate to Kenneth Branagh. With Allen, you buy into it because of his physical appearance. With Branagh, you just figure he's insane. Packed with pointlesss dialog, and stars who wouldn't have dreamed of appearing in this if Allens name Woody Allen's personna does not translate to Kenneth Branagh. With Allen, you buy into it because of his physical appearance. With Branagh, you just figure he's insane. Packed with pointlesss dialog, and stars who wouldn't have dreamed of appearing in this if Allens name wasn't on it.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

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68	#68 Most Discussed Movie of 1998
58	#58 Most Shared Movie of 1998