If only Jar Jar Binks had looked more like Rachel Roberts
in Simone, fans might not have hated him so much.
The much-loathed Gungan marked the beginning of what filmmakers
call "synthespians," a concept that periodically throws actors
into fits. What would or could a director do if freed from
the restraint of having to deal with real people? Writer/director/producer
Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, The Truman Show) would have
you believe that he is satirizing that question in his new
film, but it's really only a springboard to get into his usual
obsession. That is, our obsession with life lived in the fishbowl
of fame.
Would-be auteur Viktor Taransky (Al Pacino) wants it. He claims to be all about the work, but it's clear that inside the studio gates that have taken his soul and his ex-wife now studio head Elaine (Catherine Keener), fame turns the wheels.
But after his leading lady Nicola Anders (Winona Ryder) throws a fit and quits his new film, any shot Viktor has at gaining the public's attention is gone. Dumped by the studio, Viktor needs a miracle. And it comes in the unlikely form of Hank (Elias Koteas), a programming genius whose devotion to his computer gave him inoperable eye cancer. Hank bequeaths "Simulation One" to the hapless director, which allows him to create the only star who could replace Nicola - Simone (budding supermodel Rachel Roberts).
Immediately the ultra-reclusive Simone becomes a huge media sensation, sending Viktor's film to the top of the box office. As the mystique around his creation grows, the artist within Viktor begins to die. Replacing it is an insane man who has willfully developed a split personality, even if he doesn't know it. Though he continues making movies, most of his energies are devoted to maintaining the existence of Simone.
The trailers and commercials may be a bit misleading; Simone is no treatise on artificial intelligence. In fact, it should be reassuring to actors. Simulation One still requires a human body and mind to guide it, a plot point dismissed when somebody refers to Viktor as "…not that good an actor." And yet, he actually is Simone.
To be fair, she really doesn't seem that good an actress, speaking in a slightly stilted manner that suggests she's not quite working in real time. Certainly, the bits of Viktor's films we see are meant to be nearly incomprehensible in their pretentiousness. Niccol tars every element of Hollywood with a fair brush. But it's still sadly believable that Simone could become a superstar; hype is everything. Just ask Colin Farrell.
For the most part, Niccol's satire works pretty well. Any movie in which Rebecca Romijn-Stamos claims to be ugly when compared to Simone obviously has its tongue rooted firmly in cheek. In a few places Niccol even seems to be shooting for screwball comedy, such as at a Hollywood party in which the slightest suggestion that Simone might be attending triggers a mad stampede.
What makes it work best is that Niccol gives us this obsession from a lot of different angles. Though Simone may be in a fishbowl, or literally just a video monitor, we see her impact on many levels of society. Yes, it will be a given that Keener's character will have an obsession; for her, Simone is a meal ticket. But at a concert given by a holographic Simone, it's clear that the world is under her spell.
The seamy side of such obsession is given a tweak in the form of gossip magazine reporters played by Pruitt Taylor Vince and Jason Schwartzman. An hilarious comic duo, they appear to be devoted to their jobs as investigative journalists, but it quickly becomes clear that both actually have unhealthy fantasies about Simone. Someone should re-team these guys again, and quickly.
Unfortunately, Niccol backs away from the full-on black comedy he seems to be building, settling instead for a conventional Hollywood resolution that seems swiped right off of a Goldie Hawn movie. Viktor would be so ashamed.
Except for Vince and Schwartzman, everybody seems to be pulling back. Though quite capable of chewing scenery, Pacino never really lets go into the full mania that could have made this a classic performance. Instead, it's a little bit perfunctory. Keener plays a slightly softer version of the character she always plays (with the requisite third act heartmelt), when we really could have used more uber-bitch. As Simone, Roberts can be forgiven for her restraint. She is, after all, supposedly just a program.
I should also note that Roberts does not pull off her performance alone. (Distributor New Line Cinema keeps denying that Simone is played by anyone other than Simone.) Though she is obviously an attractive woman on her own, it does look like she has been digitally enhanced with elements of classic Hollywood beauties. Including Ernest Borgnine. Really.
Despite the film's eventual loss of momentum, its dialogue remains sharp. That makes sense, as Niccol has long been better (and rightfully so) known as a writer. In introducing Hank, for example, Niccol perfectly captures the utter social cluelessness of a hardcore programmer. Describing the work he's done on Simulation One, Hank blurts "I licked her hair, I licked her skin…," heedless of how this actually makes him sound like a pervert.
On the flip side, this movie also has the worst sense of how computers actually work since Independence Day. Viktor protests that he has absolutely no idea how to work a computer, and yet easily masters the Simulation One program in secret, which, by the way, is contained on a hard drive that easily slips into Viktor's computer. A 5 ½" disk also becomes crucial. That's gotta hurt Steve Jobs.
Not quite the classic it wants to be, Simone is still one of the better movies of the summer. Funny, occasionally thought-provoking, and featuring a truly beautiful lead, Simone should have some real legs.
