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Review: ‘Celebrity’ — Woody Allen’s Simpering Cinema Satire
The New York-ian director takes jabs at the film industry, seemingly forgetting his own role within it
I have no idea why I continue seeking out Woody Allen’s films. Maybe it is because they are simply so accessible, relatively easy to track down copies of and to put on for a relaxed viewing. Perhaps it is their immense star-power, always boasting excellent (usually ensemble) casts who do admittedly tend to bring in at least okay performances. In the case of Celebrity, it was a perfect storm of those factors. This film in particular boasts an insane cast of readily recognisable faces, including a handful which Woody Allen either only worked with for Celebrity or has only worked with rarely. That includes, in this case, the likes of Kenneth Branagh (cast, basically, as a Woody Allen insert — I assume Allen thought himself too old for the role, and so asked Branagh to imitate him, which he does to a freakily good degree), Winona Ryder, Charlize Theron, Sam Rockwell, J.K. Simmons and even… Leonardo DiCaprio and a brief appearance from Donald Trump?
The film’s crew also boasts the inclusion of the excellent cinematographer Sven Nykvist, responsible for shooting a number of Ingmar Bergman’s films who, later in his career, shot a number of Allen’s works…
