Simone (2002 film)

Plot

Viktor Taransky, a disillusioned director out of favor in Hollywood, struggles to finish his new film when lead actress Nicola Anders refuses to complete it. His ex-wife Elaine, an executive producer, is frustrated and tells him his contract will not be renewed. Taransky remains close with their daughter Lainey. Later that night, an old acquaintance, Hank Aleno, tries to discuss an advanced program called “Simulation One” that can create a computer-generated woman, but Taransky leaves.

The next day, Taransky learns Hank has died and left him the program. Using it, he creates a virtual actor named Simone, derived from the program's title, to play the film's central character. Simone's performance, controlled by Taransky, becomes the highlight at the premiere. The film is a huge success, and Simone attracts a global fanbase, revitalizing Taransky's career.

When questioned about Simone, Taransky requests privacy, which intensifies media demands. He executes progressively ambitious stunts using misdirection and special effects. Two tabloid reporters discover he used out-of-date stock photography during an interview and blackmail him for a live appearance. He arranges a holographic concert, making Simone even more famous; she becomes a double winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress, tied with herself.

Taransky grows tired of Simone overshadowing him and strains his relationship with Elaine, who believes he is romantically involved with Simone. He decides to ruin Simone by having her direct a tasteless film about zoophilia, I Am Pig, but it only enhances her credibility as an avant-garde artist.

Production

Simone, Andrew Niccol's follow-up to Gattaca, also explores the troubling side of technology used to chase perfection, but here Niccol tries comedy for the first time, blending light satire with exaggerated drama. (His earlier non-satirical work was The Truman Show.) The cast includes Pruitt Taylor Vince as Max Sayer, an overweight tabloid investigator, and Jason Schwartzman as his shady yet oddly childlike assistant, Milton. Rebecca Romijn plays Faith, Viktor's secretary, whose obsession with Simone drives her to copy her look and even try to sleep with Viktor while he calls her "Simone."

These supporting characters fuel much of the humor around the strange cultural craze. To build Simone's character, the filmmakers got footage of Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany's from Paramount, and used Getty Images for scenic backgrounds in her remote interviews. The film's style replaces the letter "I" with the numeral 1 and the letter "O" with 0, a choice that appears throughout, including in the credits. Edward Lachman handled principal photography, and the entire production stayed in California, with Getty stock footage standing in for places like Egypt's pyramids.

Mary J. Blige covers "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," performed by Simone as a hologram and heard over the closing credits. Carter Burwell composed the score, released on CD. The movie demonstrates chroma key effects in creating fake footage, and a post-credits scene shows Viktor faking a supermarket sighting of Simone that a pursuer takes as real.

Reception

Simone opened at number 9 at the North American box office, grossing $3,813,463 in its opening weekend, and earned $19,576,023 worldwide. The film received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 50% approval rating based on 161 reviews, with the site's consensus stating that the satire lacks bite and the plot is not believable enough to feel relevant. Metacritic calculated an average score of 49 out of 100 from 38 reviews, indicating mixed or average reviews.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times criticized Niccol for wasting his premise with broad appeal and sitcom simplicity, saying the satire is not sharp enough and the characters are too routine. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote that the material is reasonable but lacks plot twists or unexpected implications, rolling out easily in a Hollywood made unreal by Niccol. Marc Savlov of The Austin Chronicle found the film ironic because it resembles the big-budget commercial filmmaking it mocks.

Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times said Niccol satirizes the kinds of dazzling empties he himself has made, calling Simone tepid and vapid.