OxfordPress.com

Grade: B-

Verdict: A smart, funny pixel-ated Pygmalion tale with some last-act problems.

Details: Al Pacino, Catherine Keener and Simone. Directed by Andrew Niccol. Rated PG-13 for language and brief sexuality. One hour, 57 minutes.

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Review: The main theme of "Simone" is the gap between perception and reality. It's the movie's main problem as well. Here's why: The star is Al Pacino. Since he's much better known for playing Godfathers than goofballs, "Simone" sounds serious. In fact, it's a likable lightweight, a slightly overdone satire of movies and movie stars. Adjust your expectations accordingly and you'll have a good time, even during the film's much less effective second half.

Pacino plays Viktor Taransky, a manic Hollywood director whose career is going down the tubes. As the film opens, he's diligently separating the red Mike and Ikes from the other colors. Nicola Anders (Winona Ryder), his temperamental star, wants it that way. She also wants the largest trailer on the lot and seven packs of cigarettes in her dressing room. But despite Viktor's best efforts to placate her, she throws a snit fit and walks off the movie.

Then, from the shadowy netherworld of creepy film fans emerges a loony who idolizes Viktor — and he wants to give him a gift. It's a computer program called Simulator One (or SimOne) and it's about to change Viktor's life.

SimOne allows him to create his very own three-dimensional virtual actress. He calls her Simone. For her looks he chooses Audrey Hepburn. For her voice, he mixes Meryl Streep, Lauren Bacall and "the young Jane Fonda." (Too much Streep, he decides, making an adjustment.) He then inserts her into his abandoned, nearly finished movie, instantly allowing himself to work with the most pliable of actresses.

Viktor's picture, which is vaguely Bergmanesque, is a huge hit. And Simone is an overnight sensation. Everyone wants to know all about the mysterious Garbo-like beauty who will only work alone with her director, doesn't need a trailer and does her own wardrobe and makeup. (Gee, she could've been in "Full Frontal.")

But as many obsessed creators, from Henry Higgins to Victor (hmmm . . .) Frankenstein have learned, sometimes creations get out of control. And sometimes you end up falling for your creation yourself. When Viktor sits down at the keyboard and animates Simone, their sessions are almost sexual. "Mr. Taransky," she whispers, lovingly, "we both know I was never without you. I was computer code."

Writer/director Andrew Niccol has been fascinated with appearance vs. reality ever since he scripted "The Truman Show." This film offers a kind of inversion. In "Truman," Jim Carrey thinks everyone else is real. In "Simone," everyone else thinks Simone is real. As Viktor says, "Our ability to manipulate fraud exceeds our ability to detect it."

However, as was true of the similarly themed but more serious "Wag the Dog," "Simone" is mostly setup. The second part just isn't as sharp and, as if to compensate, Pacino starts to edge toward the dreaded hoo-hah histrionics of "Scent of a Woman."

That said, "Simone" has some timely things to say. "Stuart Little 2" had a digital star; "XXX" had a self-manufactured one. (Hey, kids: Vin Diesel grew up in the wilds of Greenwich Village, where the most dangerous thing he ever had to face was an extra-strong espresso.) So "Simone" makes you think about the implications of what Hollywood is currently up to, even as the picture slides into over-the-top-plot overdrive.

Pacino can get a little overripe, but that kind of acting almost comes with the mad inventor territory. (Remember Colin Clive shouting, "It's alive!!" in the original "Frankenstein?") Besides, he does a good job conveying Viktor's old-school passion for moviemaking and his disgust for what passes for making movies today. In creating Simone, Viktor becomes the man behind the curtain in "The Wizard of Oz." Yet he sounds like any forgotten star maker when, after Simone has taken over the world, he angrily notes, "It used to be about the work. Now it's all abut her."

Though the rest of the cast, aside from Simone, doesn't have terribly much to do, Ryder is just about perfect as a too-familiar brand of movie star monster. Catherine Keener, playing Viktor's unapologetically tough ex-wife, should be happy that people are writing scripts with her in mind, but, given that the parts are getting much too similar, she may need to be wary as well.

As for Simone herself, she's a beautiful enigma. I'll let moviegoers decide for themselves how "real" her performance is.

"Simone" is a smart and funny, albeit sometimes superficial, cautionary tale of a technology in search of an artist. Niccol may make his point a few decibels louder than he needs to, but you can't help liking what he's saying.

— Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, (none)