Celebrity (1998)

disgusting, overrated, pointless

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

An earnest couple split up in a passion and, instead of getting back together, spin off into the chaos of the celebrity universe - one sets a pattern, the other drifts into oblivion. Or is it the other way round?Amazing cast, and the best performance is by Theron who uses everything she's got. Ryder is also excellent with her close ups, and Caprio rips it all up. The rest are pretty good, although puffy-faced Brannagh doesn't cut it: channelling Woody Allen is OK at first, but mostly irritating. The female lead also struggled. And Sam Rockwell gets his perm wet in the bath.It's stylish, but impossible to discuss without mentioning the actors by name. So something went wrong with the story, and it dragged a lot - at 60 mins I thought, "Crrrp - 45 mins to go." Poor story, despite the clever script.Music is good, and the New York boroughs look great.Overall, lots of lovely detail swirling in a bowl of brown water.

One of Woody's overlooked gems. It's held up remarkably well. Still very entertaining, funny, and all too timely. And what else had Charlize Theron done at this point? She's a revelation. Kenneth Branaugh is spot-on as Woody himself (even better than John Cusack was in that role in "Bullets Over Broadway." Judy Davis gives one her all time great neurotic performances. Why wasn't she Oscar-nominated for this?! This movie offers among the best testimonials as to why so many actors want to be in a Woody Allen film. He raises the bar for nearly all of them, even while skewering their neuroses, egos, and the warped world they must thrive in. Party scenes topped only by back-stage chaos at TV talk show.

I saw this movie a few days ago,and I loved it like any other Woody Allen movie.And I don't get why so many people hate this movie and also critics.some say this film s too explicit and etc.I think the story and the dialoges were great.One of the best things in this film was the Cinematography which was fascinating.And the actings imo are at the top.Especially,Judy Davis,Winona Ryder and Joe Mantegna did excellent performances and deserved nominations,and about Kenneth Branagh,many say is terrible in this because of doing a Woody Allen impression,but I can't agree with that.I think he showed his versatility and did a very sharp performance. Afteral,I think this movie didn't get enough credit as it deserved and is a very very underrated and btw misunderstood film.

I don't write many of these reviews, but upon viewing Celebrity again, and noticing that it is Woody Allen's lowest rated film - I felt that I absolutely must say something. As stated in my summary I think this film is brilliant. There are so many nuances, so many little things that work so well. What people fail to realize is that this movie is not about liking the main character. In fact, he is decidedly unlikable. But we are not supposed to empathize with him. We are supposed to feel sorry for him. Lee needs "help" as is clearly stated at the end of the film. What's more, the movie is about Celebrity. Plain and simple. It shows us every kind of celebrity from the TV Priest to Brandon Darrow's party boy character. It shows the ridiculous and cardboard thin nature of celebrity as the old woman clearly points out about a famous hostage: "what - he's a hero for being captured?""Celebrity" illustrates America (and maybe the world's) bizarre obsession with fame, by holding up a mirror and presenting the people as they really are. It also shows us how we as an audience can be fooled, and how we worship celebrities for moments of fabricated beauty. This is brilliantly shown during the "Kiosk at Midnight" scene between Nola and Lee. It's possibly one of the most beautiful scenes ever put on film - but it's between two perverse and loathsome people. But we are fooled - and just for a moment, all is right. Such is the nature of celebrity. 10/10 Give this film another shot.