Celebrity
User Score
5.9 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 10 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 10
  3. Negative: 2 out of 10

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  1. RaphaelP.
    Jul 11, 2004
    10
    This is one of my Allen's favourites. Contrary to his classic but moderately innovative Purple Rose of Cairo and Hannah and Her Sisters, this one attempts something new. The Altmanesque panorama of faces and plots, Celebrity remains Allen's most underrated since the magnificent Stardust Memories. Will become a classic in 50 years' time.
  2. JohnC.
    Jan 7, 2006
    2
    Woody Allen's personna does not translate to Kenneth Branagh. With Allen, you buy into it because of his physical appearance. With Branagh, you just figure he's insane. Packed with pointlesss dialog, and stars who wouldn't have dreamed of appearing in this if Allens name wasn't on it.
  3. StephenL.
    May 28, 2006
    8
    almost all of woody's movies are excellent , interesting and more fun to watch than 90% of what's out there. 100 years from now Woody Allen will still be highly regarded but no one will remember the pompous critics such as Charles Taylor who look down on him.
  4. J-Shap
    Aug 27, 2011
    4
    While the depictions of celebrities are pretty spot on, this film is meandering and largely devoid of laughs or enough bite to truly have the impact of the film it emulates (La Dolce Vita). Celebrity is like listening to an old man ramble for hours.
  5. benido326
    May 8, 2012
    7
    Being such a big Woody Allen fan, I must confess that my opinion of his films may be skewed a bit. I can tell a bad film from a good film, but the worst, well let's not say worst, he does have a couple of bad ones, but on the ones that are considered bad I see as being just okay, not as bad as some may say. Celebrity is that type of film. Celebrity is what I would say a pretty loose film, that is to say there isn't a straight story. It follows writer Lee Simmons, it's an Allen film so you have to expect to see at least one writer of some sorts, played by Kenneth Branagh as he encounters a number of actors and models for the magazine he works with. As I said before the story is really loose, so we just act as witnesses to his encounters with these people, but it gives us a good portrait of what their lives are like and how crazy and spontaneous they can be and some of them just drag them along for the hell of it. One example is a ten minute segment where Leonardo DiCaprio, a young hot headed actor character, encounters Lee and whisks him off to Atlantic City to see a boxing fight. And then Lee has the opportunity to sleep with Leo's character and two other women. That's just one of the Lee's encounters with the showbiz world we see. There are many others. And while all the Lee story is happening, we follow Lee's ex-wife, played by one of Allen's regulars Judy Davis, as she tries to fix her life after the divorce. She also has a number of encounters with the showbiz world as she gets a job at a TV station. Overall i think the film is okay. Branagh can get a little overbearing as he tries to work with the Allen persona, but i think the situations and the number of cameos, including Hank Azaria, director Greg Mottola, J.K. Simmons, Charlize Theron, and Donald Trump even, make up for it and make the film somewhat enjoyable. It's not Allen's worse, not his best, but fits pretty snugly in the middle.
    3/5 C, C+    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
41 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 25 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 25
  3. Negative: 7 out of 25
  1. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Steve Davis
    30
    Purportedly a seriocomic contemplation on a civilization that's lost its way, the movie jabs at America's fascination with its false idols without ever hitting its target.
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  2. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    40
    Woody Allen at his most inconsequential and insubstantial; don't expect to remember this black-and-white throwaway of comic sketches five minutes after it's over.
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  3. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    63
    The movie's shot in black and white; Allen is one of the rare and valuable directors who sometimes insists in working in the format that is the soul of cinema.
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