It's time for Woody Allen to make movies about something other than relationships gone bad and sex.
Oh, there are other story elements featured in his newest movie, "Celebrity" — such as an examination on the nature of fame, as well as the effects it has on people. But they take a back seat to Allen's continuing reliance on the same themes he's been exploring for decades.
And though it's not as foul-mouthed and dirty-minded as his previous film, last year's "Deconstructing Harry," and despite a handful of funny moments, this uneven comedy still finds the filmmaker in a rut. And that's a pity, considering the enormous talent involved (as with most of his films, this one's a star-studded affair).
Unlike that "Harry," Allen actually lets someone else play the traditional "Woody" role this time around: Kenneth Branagh, who stars as Lee Simon, a would-be novelist "slumming" as an entertainment journalist.
Frustrated at his inability to write the Great American Novel, he goes from one dead-end relationship to the next, including brief liaisons with a supermodel (Charlize Theron), a book editor (Famke Janssen) and an aspiring actress (Winona Ryder). But none of them bring him true happiness, and he's unable to get the acclaim he's really looking for.
Meanwhile, his ex-wife Robin (Judy Davis) is headed in a different direction, personally and professionally. Though at first she's enmeshed in self-pity, she soon finds love with a charismatic television producer, Tony (Joe Mantegna).
He also helps her revive her long-dead career as she becomes a television host and experiences her own 15 minutes of fame.
The endless rehashing of Allen's personal issues here is grating enough, but Allen the screenwriter also needs to start writing for other actors besides himself. Having Branagh speak Woody-like lines is a ludicrous conceit, while his attempts to replicate Allen's staccato delivery is simply irritating.
Also, that term might be used to describe the majority of the film's characters, who are too self-absorbed to be likable — that is, aside from Mantegna, who's charming in an unwritten role, and Leonardo DiCaprio, who has a pretty funny cameo role as a spoiled actor (art imitating life?).
"Celebrity" is rated R for rampant profanity, sex, vulgar sexual references, slang terms and sight gags, a violent confrontation and drug use (cocaine).