Artificial images saturate most movies, and sometimes it’s hard to tell what is real and what isn’t. The one sure bet is that the actors are real.

When George Lucas created Jar Jar Binks in the first Star Wars movie, some believed CGI technology would soon replace actors. It wasn’t Jar Jar’s performance; it was how real he looked.

In “S1m0ne,”writer/director Andrew Niccol asks what if it could be done? What if filmmakers can replace the big, spoiled movie star who demands giant trailers or removing brown M&M’s from the bag and instead use a CGI actor to just focus on the art of filmmaking?

Al Pacino plays Viktor Taransky, a film director who finds himself without a leading lady after Nicola Anders (Winona Ryder), a spoiled, self-centered actress, walks out on his movie because she doesn’t have the biggest trailer in the studio lot.

Forced to shutdown, Taranky’s ex-wife and studio executive, Elaine Christian (Catherine Keener) fires him. Without an actress to replace Nicola Anders, his career and film seem bleak. But a dying computer programmer comes to his aid with a homemade CGI program that creates actors.

Taransky creates Simone (Rachel Roberts), compiling her with characteristics and mannerisms of a typical Hollywood siren (blond hair and sexy voice), and he replaces her with the existing footage of Anders and releases Sunrise Sunset. It becomes a box office hit and gains critical acclaim.

Simone becomes irresistible and the public and media want more of her. He becomes consumed in trying to keep her out of reach from the public. He becomes her slave–a slave to the demands of just keeping the illusion that she’s real.

Pacino plays, again, a very intense character, but he seems to enjoy it. Being a celebrity himself, he must know what directors must do to please their stars. Ryder is amusing as the star from hell in the short scenes she is in. The scene stealer is Roberts who conveys a necessary unrealistic human behavior to make Simone seem believable as a synthetic actor.

The film has its funny moments and it brings an interesting point of how society is too obsessed with Hollywood and its celebrities. The CGI images of Simone are excellent. In certain scenes, it’s hard to tell when Simone is real or digital. The picture quality is exceptional, bringing more detail in the darker colors.

If you’re interested in watching a satirical look at Hollywood’s misbehaving stars, pretentious filmmakers, overbearing media and the obsessive fans, pick up “S1m0ne” and give it a spin.

DVD Extras

The DVD includes two featurettes, each running about seven minutes, exploring the CGI technology used in the film and speculating on the future of synthetic actors. It’s interesting to hear what the actors themselves have to say about this issue. Nineteen deleted/alternate scenes are also included, which can be accessed by themselves or within the context of the film, via a Simone logo at the bottom right of the screen.