It may have taken five years, but writer/director Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, The Truman Show) has delivered another winner in the satire Simone. Al Pacino delivers a nicely nuanced comedic performance in this incisive look at celebrity worship, the future of filmmaking and vanity.

Viktor Taransky (Al Pacino) is a down and out Hollywood director who has just lost his last shot at a comeback when temperamental actress Nicola Anders (Winona Ryder) walks off the set of his new movie Sunrise, Sunset. And when she left, so did Taransky's self-respect. Fired by his ex-wife and studio head Elaine (Catherine Keener), Taransky just lost any hope of recapturing his former life with her and their daughter Lainey (Evan Rachel Wood).

But then computer genius Hank Aleno (Elias Koteas) shows up and offers Viktor possible salvation: a computer program named Simulation One. The program, Simone for short, is a virtual actress who will do whatever a director wants her too. Although Taransky initially rebuffs Hank's offer, Aleno has the last say. He bequeaths the software to Taransky (Hank dies a few days after meeting Viktor). Desperate to save his film and his career, Viktor decides to give Simone a shot.

It works. Sunrise, Sunset is a huge hit and its lead "actress", whom everyone thinks is a real person, becomes a worldwide celebrity. Suddenly, Taransky has a taste of the success he always craved and the world's most beloved star under his thumb. However, a tabloid reporter named Max Sayer (Pruitt Taylor Vince) is suspicious of the duo. And his pursuit becomes a little sweeter when Taransky's immaculate matrix starts to take on a life of her own.

The subplot involving Viktor trying to reconcile with his ex-wife, one a bit too reminiscent Woody Allen's Hollywood Ending, is rather routine and unnecessary. The film's ending also is a little too neatly wrapped up as well. But Niccol's observations on the film industry, the media and society's obsession with celebrities are smartly written and very funny. They may not match the level of greatness that Robert Altman's The Player achieved, but it certainly is miles better than other Tinseltown spoofs such as last year's blase American Sweethearts.

When it comes to the acting, the movie belongs to Pacino (sorry, Simone), who displays a nice sense of comic timing. At any given moment, we expect him to go overboard and start chewing up the scenery. But as in this past spring's Insomnia, he holds back just enough to give his performance that extra push, making the role of Viktor a nice change of pace from his usual dramatic work. Pruitt Taylor Vince and Elias Koteas turn in solid supporting roles while Catherine Keener is merely okay as Elaine.

While it may be a little late with its commentary on virtual actors replacing real ones, a facet that may have been more effective had the film been released in 2001 as originally planned, Simone more than makes up for its tardiness by providing a plethora of intelligent humor and sharp observations at the expense of an industry that is a joke unto itself.

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