Looking for an engaging film? Something with deep undercurrents that deals with severe issues present in the world today?
"Simone," starring Al Pacino, is one of the most clever films to be released this year.
The film masquerades as a comedy and does a superb job. At the premier, Tuesday Aug. 20 at Century Rio 24, the audience was laughing throughout the entire movie.
We were not thinking of the satire or serious issues "Simone" raises until well after we exited the theater.
Pacino stars as a washed-up director, Viktor Taranksy, who longs for the olden days of studios - when the actors were not bigger than the films and the movies stood for something. He recalls when directors had a vision and nothing could get in the way of it. In the beginning of the film, Viktor is working with a terrible model/actress, named Nicola Anders and played by Winona Ryder, who reads off teleprompters.
Her contract includes such stipulations as requiring seven packs of cigarettes in any given room that she walks into, including three that are opened, and all the red Mike and Ike's to be removed from candy bowls around her. She walks out on the film, claiming that no one will understand it. As a result Viktor is canned by the studio head, who happens to be his ex-wife, played by Catherine Keener.
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Viktor's daughter is the only person in his life who believes in him. She tells him, "after all, you are Viktor Taransky." These words seem to inspire him and nine months later, he succeeds with the film "Sunrise, Sunset."
He has found a new star, Simone, who is everything that he has always desired from an actress. She is totally willing to follow his vision and fully committed to seeing his ideas hit the screen.
But Simone is a computer simulation.
Pacino does an excellent job with a role that audiences don't often see him in - that of the comedian. This role is particularly surprising considering that he's supposed to be the one in control.
After coming to the slow realization that Simone is getting all the attention he desired, Viktor vows to destroy her, but his actions only encourage the public adoration for his creation.
He presents her on a talk show chain-smoking and drinking, discussing how elementary schools need firing ranges so that children can learn how to defend themselves. But when the camera cuts back to the hosts of the show, they praise her rare honesty in an industry that is one big lie.
Towards the end of the film, he gives up, muttering to himself, "she's indestructible."
The true thesis of "Simone" is the continuous blurring of the line between fiction and reality that we as humans are encountering everyday.
However, the comic moments that fill the film put this serious meaning on hold until after we are done fully enjoying one of the funniest films of the year.
