Celebrity (1998)

Following their divorce, a writer (Kenneth Branagh) and his neurotic wife (Judy Davis) find their lives taking different paths. He explores his newfound freedom with various women while she meets a man (Joe Mantegna) and transforms herself into a more confident woman. Written and directed by Woody Allen, this erratic look at fame, fortune and celebrity is too fragmented and holds our interest only intermittently. The movie is filled with shallow, self centered characters who are no different from the usual pretentious characters of countless other Allen films so we view them from a distance. Allen isn't in the movie but Branagh apes Allen's mannerisms and speech pattern so flawlessly that one wonders why Allen didn't just do the role himself though the image of Charlize Theron (as a supermodel) shoving her tongue down Allen's throat is unsettling. Handsomely shot in B&W by Sven Nykvist (FANNY AND ALEXANDER), Not among Allen's best but far from his worst either. As usual, Allen has a collection of excellent actors in the film. Among them Leonardo DiCaprio, Winona Ryder, Melanie Griffith, Allison Janney, Hank Azaria, Famke Janssen, Bebe Neuwirth, J.K. Simmons, Debra Messing, Andre Gregory, Jeffrey Wright, Celia Weston, Aida Turturro, Kate Burton and Gretchen Mol.