One of the most ill-conceived works I've seen in a while, "S1m0ne" aka "Simone" is one of the lamest pieces of comedy to be encoded on DVD for a while.

Al Pacino, one of my favorite aged actors, heads this meager cast as Viktor Taransky, a little known film director attempting to complete a large budget picture run by his studio CEO ex-wife. After battling with the project's leading actress, played perfectly by Winona Ryder, and her retarded demands, Taransky is approached by computer genious/mad man Hank.

Played by Elias Koteas (The Thin Red Line), Hank passes away from eye cancer and wills his program to create to perfect digital actress to Taransky. Nine months later, the desperate filmmaker replaces all of Ryder's scenes with his new ingenue Simone, a digital beauty.

Soon, the studio, the public, the media and paparazzi, and Taransky's ex-wife and daughter are going nuts to meet this new inspiring actress who Taransky plays up as a recluse and agoraphobic artist.

The picture started interesting enough, but soon, as the conflict for Taransky to produce the digital actress as a real person grew, the premise of "S1m0ne" flew out the window.

The storyline became such a high concept trash pile, it could almost be considered melodrama. In other scenes, director and writer Andrew Nichol, who also scripted the far fetched "The Truman Show," placed scenes that resembled a heavy drama. Nichol's other works like "Gattaca" and the recent "The Terminal" have pleased me very well, but this picture first opened a door to a legitimately debatable subject, using digital actors instead of actual actors and a filmmaker's ingerity involved. However, it delivered this total heap of unbelievable shit that Chevy Chase would have been more fitting to lead the cast-no offense intended to Mr. Chase.

Nichols, who also directed this one, seemed to bleed whatever creative juice his actors may have had to give this project, and yet it still seemed contrived and uncharasmatic as it could possibly be. I feel bad for Pacino and others who were convinced to perform in this utterly useless film. IF you've been interested in renting "S1m0ne," skip it. There are plenty other high concept comedies out there starring Chevy Chase that are far more entertaining. Rent "Spies Like Us." That was a classic. This one licks sack.

Benn - Where's the Humanity?