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J. Robert Parks argues that the film insults the intellect: "No, I don't expect an action thriller to be believable or even make sense. But I do hope that it won't completely insult the audience's intelligence, that it will have some sort of internal consistency. In XXX, there is absolutely no logic to anything that happens. Even the explosions are random, which creates a mind-numbing sense of boredom."

Andrew Niccol, the creator of such thoughtful, artful films as Gattaca and The Truman Show, is back with another film about the difference between real and artificial life. In Simone, Al Pacino plays Viktor Taransky, a director who is fed up with spoiled-brat actors and actresses. Thus, he is ecstatic when he inherits the software for a digitally simulated actress called "Simulation One" (or "Simone"), a performer who won't talk back. Unfortunately, Taransky's own ego takes over and his manipulated non-actress becomes merely a dangerous extension of his own personality.

Anne Navarro (Catholic News) writes that the film starts strong but slumps into oversimplification and redundancy: "The script … happily mocks actors and their peculiar 'requests,' hinting that maybe Tinseltown would be better off with 'synthespians'—computer-generated actors who don't talk back. Niccol plays with the themes of identity, reality and media fascination in a film that is spiked with dry wit. The film takes some deliciously dark and comical turns, but then loses its way, always returning to one joke. Niccol ends on a down beat with too tidy a wrap-up for the narrative without properly probing the questions raised about whether the connections made by human beings can be replaced or duplicated by a digital creation."

Film Forum will feature more reviews of the film next week.

Actor Mel Gibson, enjoying his latest box office triumph in Signs, is ready to take on a far more ambitious project. This time, though, he will not be in front of the camera. Several media outlets are reporting that Gibson is scouting locations in southern Italy for a movie called Passion. He is reportedly considering actor Jim Caviezel to play the Messiah. (If so, good choice. I saw Caviezel for the first time in Terrence Malick's wonderful war epic The Thin Red Line, and immediately thought to myself, "that guy would be the perfect actor to play Jesus.") Both men are reportedly believing Catholics.

Are you excited about the possibility of another big screen Jesus film? What sort of things would you like to see a new Jesus movie emphasize? Let me know.

Next week: Critics turn in reviews of Simone, a new family film called Little Secrets, and more.

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August (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46