338:) and apply an anti-virus program to eradicate the computer virus. They restore Simone and have her appear on national television laughing while holding up a newspaper headline with her obituary along with a fake story that Simone's death was a hoax. Elaine and Taransky get back together, but Simone and Taransky get into a "public relationship" and even have a virtual baby as a publicity stunt. In a bizarre further twist of events, Simone at the end of the film enters politics so her child can have a good future.
1004:
999:
994:
944:
939:
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763:
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989:
984:
929:
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753:
748:
481:. Stylized elements present throughout the film and its post-credits included the use of #1 in place of any letter 'I', and a #0 in place of any letter 'O', which occurs for the entire duration of the credits, including for all cast and crew names featured. Principal photography was done by Edward Lachman, while the entirety of the production was made in
320:
intended to disgust audiences. Not only does it fail to achieve the desired effect of audience alienation, but it also serves to foster her credibility as a risk-taking, fearless and avant-garde artist. Taransky's subsequent attempts to discredit Simone by having her drink, smoke, and curse at public
579:
was critical of Niccol wasting his premise by giving it a broad appeal with "sitcom simplicity" and his cast a narrow direction for their characters, saying: "He wants to edge it in the direction of a
Hollywood comedy, but the satire is not sharp enough and the characters, including the ex-wife, are
604:
was that it stank of the very thing it appeared to be mocking: it's a big-budget, commercial film taking potshots at big-budget, commercial filmmaking (as well as overripe, over-earnest indies), and although it strives constantly for a sense of knowing, winking irony, the only thing ironic about it
31:
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In one instance, two determined tabloid reporters discover
Taransky used out-of-date stock photography as a background during an interview instead of being on that site as claimed, and they blackmail him into getting Simone to make a live appearance. He arranges her to perform a song at a stadium
278:
When Nicola Anders, the star of the new film by disillusioned, out-of-favor director Viktor
Taransky, refuses to finish the film and contractually requires her image to not be used in the film without risking a lawsuit, Taransky is forced to find a replacement actress and re-shoot scenes from the
333:
After being charged with her murder, he admits that Simone is not a person, but a computer program. The chest containing the computer data is brought up empty. Taransky's daughter Lainey and ex-wife Elaine enter his studio to try to help him restore Simone, as he has a change of heart. They find
300:
for her to appear. Taransky decides he will reveal the secret of her non-existence after the second motion picture she stars in. To satisfy demand, he executes a number of progressively ambitious stunts relying on misdirection and cinematic special effects technology. Eventually, it escalates to
462:
was cast later in the role of Faith, Viktor's secretary who is so obsessed with Simone that she begins dressing like Simone, dying her hair like Simone and even trying to have sex with Viktor just so that she can hear him call her "Simone". These side-actors built up much of the side comedy
279:
film. Instead of hiring another actress, Taransky experiments with a new computer program he inherits from late acquaintance Hank Aleno which allows the creation of a computer-generated woman which he can easily animate to play the film's central character. Taransky names his
305:
event appearing in a cloud of smoke and then using flawless holographic technology. The perception of being in person is reinforced with real-time visualization on the stadium's monitors. Simone becomes even more famous, simultaneously becoming a double winner for the
293:. Seamlessly incorporated into the film, Simone gives a fantastic performance, exactly controlled by Taransky. The film is immediately a huge success, and the studio and world grow confused about Simone and campaign to find out who she truly is.
325:
to erase her, dumping the hard drive and floppy disks into a steamer trunk, burying the trunk at sea, and then announcing to the press that she has died of a rare virus contracted on her
Goodwill Tour of the Third World. During the funeral, the
593:
wrote that "It's reasonable material, but there are no real plot twists or unexpected implications; it all just rolls out easily in a
Hollywood that director Niccol makes appear so unreal as to be an easy target". Marc Savlov of
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appearances and use politically incorrect statements similarly backfire when the press instead begins to see her as refreshingly honest. As a last resort, Taransky decides to dispose of Simone completely by using a
312:
Though initially happy about his hoax going off, Taransky grows tired of Simone constantly overshadowing him in the press, and decides to make her second film purposely bad; thus Simone's next film,
30:
266:. The story follows a fading director creating a virtual actress to star in his films and the attempts he makes to keep her non-presence a secret as she becomes more famous.
615:
said, "The writer-director Mr. Niccol is satirizing the kinds of dazzling empties he himself has made. fascinated with surfaces—the films he's been involved with (he wrote
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444:
was Niccol's first attempt at a comedic satire with lighter moments and over-the-top drama. Niccol's first attempt at non-satire had been the earlier and more successful
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interrupt, open the coffin and find only a cardboard cutout of Simone. He is arrested and shown a security camera video where he loads a large trunk onto his yacht.
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to be used in the film for part of the basis of the Simone character, while scenic footage used for Simone's "remote interview" backgrounds was obtained from
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technique. A post-credits sequence shows Viktor creating fake footage of Simone in a supermarket, which one of her pursuers sees, believing it real.
1320:
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1300:
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out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated an average score of 49, based on 38 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
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deals with themes of the problematic aspects of technological advances being used to attempt to attain perfection. Unlike the former, however,
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were cast as obese tabloid investigator Max Sayer and his shady-looking but peculiarly childlike assistant, Milton, respectively.
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1113:
561:
gave it a 51% approval rating based on 160 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10. The site's consensus reads: "The satire in
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Taransky initially claims that Simone is a recluse and requests her privacy be respected, but that only
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garnered mixed reviews from critics, grossing $ 19.6 million worldwide against its $ 10 million budget.
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surrounding the bizarre cultural phenomenon surrounding Simone. Footage of character
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3,813,463 in its opening weekend. The film grossed $ 19,576,023 worldwide.
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The film opened at #9 on the North
American box office chart, grossing
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631:, goes beyond postmodern to post-entertainment—it's tepid and vapid."
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lacks bite, and the plot isn't believable enough to feel relevant."
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485:, using the Getty stock footage to fill in for locations such as
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627:) are a mix of populism and deconstruction. His newest effort,
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316:, is her "directorial debut" and a tasteless treatment about
650:(media phenomenon centering on virtual avatar entertainment)
283:"Simone," a name derived from the computer program's title,
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received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator
514:
1331:
English-language science fiction comedy-drama films
1121:
525:The film shows how the fake is produced using the
513:composed the film's score, which was released on
503:", which Simone sings during a concert scene via
301:simulated remote location video live interviews.
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605:is how much it resembles its supposed target."
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507:, and which later plays over the end credits.
1107:
921:
745:
1266:American science fiction comedy-drama films
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1100:
29:
1023:"Film Review: Got It All (Except a Life)"
1256:2000s science fiction comedy-drama films
1016:
893:
334:Taransky's forgotten virus source disk (
1321:Films with screenplays by Andrew Niccol
1316:Films shot in Santa Clarita, California
1301:Films shot in Beverly Hills, California
705:
703:
501:(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman
1223:
956:
790:
775:
666:
664:
1095:
803:from the original on January 28, 2022
791:Scheib, Richard (November 15, 2003).
709:
309:, tying with herself in the process.
16:Science fiction film by Andrew Niccol
700:
688:from the original on August 28, 2016
549:
1271:Films about artificial intelligence
983:
839:from the original on March 23, 2010
661:
238:written, produced, and directed by
13:
1311:Films shot in Pasadena, California
1036:from the original on July 18, 2020
971:from the original on July 17, 2020
911:from the original on July 18, 2020
875:from the original on June 21, 2020
731:from the original on July 19, 2020
600:said, "What really irked me about
520:
14:
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1052:
923:
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430:Like Andrew Niccol's predecessor
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957:Savlov, Marc (August 23, 2002).
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937:
932:
927:
922:
761:
756:
751:
746:
1286:Films directed by Andrew Niccol
1291:Films scored by Carter Burwell
1010:
950:
887:
851:
815:
784:
769:
420:Kelly Anna Cox as Young Simone
307:Academy Award for Best Actress
1:
654:
537:
425:
1296:Films set in a movie theatre
1246:2000s English-language films
532:
7:
634:
10:
1347:
405:as Hank Aleno (uncredited)
1306:Films shot in Los Angeles
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298:intensifies media demands
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162:August 23, 2002
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143:
127:
117:
107:
97:
66:
58:
50:
40:
35:Theatrical release poster
28:
23:
1281:Films about telepresence
1261:American satirical films
1236:2002 comedy-drama films
959:"Simone - Movie Review"
776:Niccol, Andrew (2002),
682:Internet Movie Database
621:and wrote and directed
341:
273:
470:Breakfast At Tiffany's
1326:New Line Cinema films
1276:Films about computing
1251:2000s satirical films
725:Sun-Times Media Group
499:featured a cover of "
411:as Faith (uncredited)
231:) is a 2002 American
1241:2000s American films
964:The Austin Chronicle
897:(October 25, 2002).
797:www.moriareviews.com
597:The Austin Chronicle
236:science fiction film
1020:(August 23, 2002).
713:(August 23, 2002).
452:Pruitt Taylor Vince
399:as Simone Lookalike
385:Pruitt Taylor Vince
363:as Lainey Christian
357:as Elaine Christian
84:Pruitt Taylor Vince
1122:Films directed by
1029:The New York Times
780:, New Line Cinemas
612:The New York Times
569:, which assigns a
473:was obtained from
351:as Viktor Taransky
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720:Chicago Sun-Times
550:Critical response
475:Paramount Studios
456:Jason Schwartzman
391:Jason Schwartzman
242:. The film stars
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571:weighted average
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361:Evan Rachel Wood
355:Catherine Keener
252:Evan Rachel Wood
248:Catherine Keener
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79:Catherine Keener
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828:Rotten Tomatoes
823:"Simone (2002)"
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793:"S1m0ne (2002)"
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672:"Simone (2002)"
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618:The Truman Show
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559:Rotten Tomatoes
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521:Special effects
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447:The Truman Show
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381:as Hal Sinclair
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148:New Line Cinema
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899:"Film: Simone"
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778:S1M0NE (movie)
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591:Peter Bradshaw
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913:. Retrieved
904:The Guardian
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877:. Retrieved
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841:. Retrieved
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805:. Retrieved
796:
786:
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739:– via
733:. Retrieved
718:
711:Ebert, Roger
690:. Retrieved
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583:The Guardian
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479:Getty Images
468:
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403:Elias Koteas
387:as Max Sayer
373:Winona Ryder
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264:Winona Ryder
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206:$ 10 million
178:Running time
155:Release date
137:Niccol Films
18:
1157:Lord of War
577:Roger Ebert
415:Joel Heyman
182:118 minutes
112:Paul Rubell
59:Produced by
41:Directed by
1231:2002 films
1225:Categories
907:. London.
879:January 2,
864:Metacritic
843:October 6,
655:References
567:Metacritic
538:Box office
527:chroma key
483:California
426:Production
211:Box office
166:2002-08-23
129:Production
51:Written by
1207:I, Object
1187:Good Kill
799:. Moria.
533:Reception
393:as Milton
369:as Simone
349:Al Pacino
318:zoophilia
244:Al Pacino
233:satirical
108:Edited by
74:Al Pacino
1177:The Host
1076:AllMovie
1040:July 17,
1034:Archived
975:July 17,
969:Archived
915:July 17,
909:Archived
873:Archived
837:Archived
801:Archived
735:July 17,
729:Archived
715:"Simone"
692:July 14,
686:Archived
635:See also
505:hologram
379:Jay Mohr
314:I Am Pig
288:ulation
260:Jay Mohr
195:Language
118:Music by
89:Jay Mohr
67:Starring
1167:In Time
1137:Gattaca
624:Gattaca
433:Gattaca
417:as Male
198:English
187:Country
164: (
131:company
1200:(2018)
1190:(2014)
1180:(2013)
1170:(2011)
1160:(2005)
1150:(2002)
1147:Simone
1140:(1997)
1082:Simone
1071:Simone
1060:Simone
807:May 9,
648:VTuber
629:Simone
602:Simone
563:S1m0ne
555:Simone
497:Simone
442:Simone
438:Simone
336:Plague
328:police
268:Simone
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