Woody Allen had a great idea, a film about the prevailing fixation the public has with the celebrity culture. Unfortunately he didn't really develop the story and screenplay very well. The film follows a divorced couple who find themselves interacting with the famous and near famous in New York City. The film is very disjointed with good scenes interlaced with some very indifferent and frankly unfunny moments. The film also spends a lot of time on the love life of a celebrity profiler played by Kenneth Branagh which frankly is not very interesting. One critic called Celebrity Woody's version of Fellini's La Dolce Vita. But this film is a far cry from that one.
The film was photographed in black and white by Sven Nykvist, Ingmar Bergman's go to cinematographer. Nykvist apparently wasn't comfortable working with Woody Allen and this was their final film together. Nykvist was also starting to show the effects of the disease progressive aphasia.
The supporting cast that was assembled by Allen certainly contributed to his film, Melanie Griffith, Winona Ryder, Leonard DiCapro (supposedly playing a fictionalized version of Johnny Depp), Charlize Theron and Donald Trump, they all knew a thing or two about constantly being in the spotlight. It's surprising that Woody Allen didn't appear in Celebrity, he's certainly been a target for the gossip columns with his rather messy personal life. In spite of it's flaws, Celebrity is worth a look
Written by Woody Allen, the running time is 113 minutes.
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