Celebrity

The opening of a Woody Allen film always gets me excited. I long for the opportunity to have my deeply rooted phobias, faults and foibles played out on the big screen by a diverse array of stars. One could accuse me of suffering from Woody envy. That envy only applies to his creativity and ability to attract talented actors to perform for him. In the real world, I must say that I think Woody Allen is a creep. Yet, he makes films that I can't wait to see. How do I reconcile this? It does help that his current film, Celebrity, is not very entertaining.

This time around, we are not subjected to Woody in person. Instead we have the displeasure of witnessing Kenneth Branagh play the loathsome central character. Why did I walk away from this film thinking that Mr. Branagh wasn't acting anymore than I think Mr. Allen does in the films in which he appears? Regardless, this movie is not about celebrity nor is it about our society and how it celebrates celebrity. It is about a lousy excuse for a man and how he mistreats everyone in his life due to his extreme self-centeredness. Why pay good money for this?

To end on a positive note, I really enjoyed Bebe Neuworth and the banana. Judy Davis is memorable, again.

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