This is a very funny film written and directed by Marshall Brickman, who wrote Woody Allen's ANNIE HALL, MANHATTAN, and MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY, as well as numerous other films. He only directed four films, of which this is the first, and it shows the least directorial skill unfortunately. His second film LOVESICK (1983, see my review) was much more satisfactory as a film. SIMON should have been far more hilarious than it is, but Brickman was too inexperienced and did not plot the pace sufficiently to keep the action moving, so that it repeatedly sags with people talking for too long, and with too much space between the jokes. However, it is very good value if you are willing to go with the flow and not mind the minor faults. Austin Pendleton is the co-star, along with Alan Arkin, and Madeleine Kahn is one of the two female leads. Austin is my cousin, and I believe he and I met Maddy Kahn together for the first time at the Upstairs at the Downstairs when she was still doing live shows, long before she was ever in a movie. This film is a comic sci fi caper, where a think tank full of mad scientists interested in brainwashing techniques, which is run by Austin, choose Arkin for an experiment. They put him into an isolation tank for a very long period of sensory deprivation and persuade him that he is an alien. Much of the comedy then results from Arkin's behaviour once he comes to believe this. Wallace Shawn adds good support, as he always does. I won't spoil the ending by discussing what this all leads to, but 'a good time was had by all', as they say.
Add a Review
-
robert-temple-128 April 2014
-
SnoopyStyle17 March 2019The Institute for Advanced Concepts is a group of five powerful scientists led by Dr. Carl Becker (Austin Pendleton). They are so brilliant that they have secured unfathomable government contracts to give them unlimited resources. Leon Hundertwasser (Max Wright) changes Nielsen ratings. Eric Van Dongen (Wallace Shawn) is trying to cross breed humanity with cockroaches. Then they read that over 60% of Americans believe in ET. They decide to hypnotize Prof. Simon Mendelssohn (Alan Arkin) with the help of Dr. Cynthia Malloy (Madeline Kahn) into thinking that he was an alien at birth and then abandoned. Lisa is his girlfriend and assistant.
Alan Arkin belongs to an early iteration of Second City. That's probably where he met Judy Graubart. She may be a good performer on the small stage but she's not one on the big screen. Madeline Kahn would be an infinitively more charismatic lead. The whole movie feels like a smartly written exercise that is too smart for its own good. Writer/director Marshall Brickman has an extensive resume which includes a lot of early work with Woody Allen. It's a satire but of what exactly is not clear. Is it a satire of scientists? Is it a satire of the media? Is it a satire of the military? It may be simply a satire of the modern world in general. Instead of becoming an overnight media sensation, I would be more interested if the group released him into the wilds of his own life. He starts acting crazy. His class becomes popular. He abandons Lisa for hot coeds and then he becomes a media sensation. Alan Arkin is a terrific performer. The story needs to figure out its heart and its soul to bring out the humanity in the alien. There are strange little lines that strike me as hilarious. "Lisa, a lady is dancing with a potholder." It's completely random and the movie probably needs more of that. It's a high concept comedy that is a little too high. -
merklekranz5 March 2008A conglomeration of ideas from older sci-fi films, especially Woody Allen's "Sleeper", are given a new spin in "Simon". A "think tank" that has been living off unlimited government grants, while coming up with nothing but nonsense, devises a plan to startle the planet. They will present the world with a "space visitor" of their making, and record humankind's reaction to the momentous event. These beginning moments of "Simon" are pure gold, clever, hilarious, and entertaining. With the "birth" of their creation a number of truly comic situations are presented. This does not last however, and the film gradually degenerates into silliness. "Simon" has a lot of great ideas that are simply not fully developed, or allowed to merely drift into "slapstick" - MERK
-
Wizard-84 September 2015"Simon" is one of the strangest movies I have seen in quite some time. It's not the premise that is so strange - the bare bones of the plot read like they could be made into a typical comedy - but rather the execution. Although there are a number of attempts at humor throughout the movie (and I admit that I did find some of these attempts amusing), there is a strong serious undercurrent. It seems that the movie is trying to say something, though what that is I cannot say for sure. But there are deeper problem with the movie. It takes quite a while for it to get going, for one thing. And once it gets going, it seems to have a number of moments where key footage seems missing or wasn't filmed at all in the first place. But all the same, I am kind of glad that I saw the movie, because it's the rare major studio production to really be strange and offbeat - which is refreshing in an age of cookie cutter plots and lack of imagination. I would recommend this movie to viewers who want something different and are ready to accept something that is an interesting failure of sorts.
-
jellopuke11 August 2019Veering wildly from hilarious to just plain odd, this has its moments, but sort of falls apart in the end. Alan Arkin is great but there's just a tiny missing ingredient here that holds it back from being truly memorable.
-
. . . claims that the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, FBI, ATF, ICE, Secret Service, Po-Po, and motorcycle gangs will fight on "HIS" side to slaughter America's Progressive majority some day soon, it's truly sobering to see the always eponymous Warner Bros. warning America of exactly this in SIMON. The title academic of this cautionary flick is anti-Big Business, fights against corrupt corporate shills, and takes to the national airwaves to expose Greedy Fat Cat One Per Centers. Warner Bros.' prophetic prognosticators depict a Nefarious Administration in Washington, DC, dispatching the full force of the U.S. Army with orders to permanently muzzle fearless Truth-Teller SIMON by assassinating him and his communal legions of Progressive followers. Now that the predictions of the clairvoyant seers of Warner Bros. are sadly coming to fruition in Real Life 2019 on a daily basis across our beleaguered nation, it's an incumbent Duty on the part of EVERY True Blue Loyal Patriotic Normal Average 99 Per Center Silent Majority Progressive Union Label Working Stiff Citizen to prepare themselves for the Coming Storm by watching EVERYTHING ever produced by Warner Bros., America's resident "coal mine canary."
-
pauldoren2 July 2022When I read Ebert's review after the movie's release, I was hesitant to watch when it was recently aired. Stupid, silly, but years ahead of its time. Watching now in light of "Fake News," QAnon, and people attracted to conspiracy theories, "Simon" takes on a new and somewhat prescient light.
-
planktonrules11 June 2005This movie started off better than probably 95% of the movies out there. The extremely funny segments where this think-tank of geniuses whose only aim is to jerk around the rest of the unsuspecting public were great. I loved how they used their superior intellect just to play one cruel joke after another on the world. The movie needed more of this sort of dark humor. However, when they decided to create their ultimate prank in the form of "Simon", the movie slowed to a deadly crawl! It was only at the end, when Simon caught on to their scheme that the movie got back on track. So, basically I loved the beginning and the end and everything else was a bit ponderous. Because of this, this is one movie ACHING for a re-make to correct these flaws.
-
richard-210418 June 2008I love this film. A wonderful, madcap vehicle for Alan Arkin (who is brilliant), with exquisite cameos by Pendleton, Shawn, Gwynne and Kahn. Zany, but not slapstick. More than enough wit. If you're a fan of Arkin or any of the supporting cast, you'll enjoy it.
It's not on par with Woody Allen or Mel Brooks' best, but certainly better than their passable mediocre efforts. Also some fun social commentary.
I was working as a theater usher when this movie was released. Curiously (to me, anyway), I watch more than a few folks leave the theater before the film's end, saying the movie was awful.
So, obviously not everyone's cup of tea. But I remain a fan. -
Is this supposed to be a comic mash-up of "Sleeper" and "Network"? Whatever it is managed to get a Razzie type nomination for most unfunny comedy of 1980. I do not think it is as bad as that, but it took me a good half an hour to get into it, and there were several sequences that were truly hysterically funny. The comic genius that is Alan Arkin turns this into something that had me puzzled yet amused, perplexed but satisfied. I certainly can see the comparisons to Woody Allen and Mel Brooks films, with perhaps a bit of Neil Simon and Blake Edwards added in. Marshall Brinkmann has had an impressive career, and this is a film that has slipped through the cracks but deserves to be somewhat of a cult film.
I never thought I would hear the Campbell Soup theme song as a church hymn, but that's what happens and is indeed one of the genuinely funny moments of the film that may not bring loud laughs but will fill you with the intended irony. Arkan plays a scientist who somehow ends up as an experiment where he is manipulated to believe that he is an alien from outer space. Arkin is truly memorable in one sequence where he shows the advancement of man from neanderthals to modern day, a sequence that you might find yourself rewinding just to see again. Later on, when he believes himself to be an alien, he makes several speeches of how society should change, and in light of the current state of affairs, that makes the film all the more funny simply for that.
Among The Supporting Cast are Austin Pendleton as the scientist in charge of the operation, Wallace Shawn as his assistant, Madeline Kahn as a doctor who seduces him strictly as research, Adolph Green as the head of a religious cult and Fred Gwynne as an overly stern Pentagon general. Judy Graubart plays Arkin's confused girlfriend in a droll manner that is very amusing. This is the type of comedy that is a mixed bag, and one that will be funny to some and silly or stupid to everybody else. But hopefully anybody who watches his obscure film will find a few amusing moments and some truth that perhaps society doesn't want to admit. -
An ambitious psychology professor is brainwashed into believing he's an alien by an amoral group of scientists. However, their experiment gets out of control when the professor begins acting Messiah-ish. There are definitely some laugh out loud moments in this film: Simon's first attempt in the sensory deprivation tank, Madeline Khan's goofy seduction of Simon, and, oh so funny, the TV worshipping cult of teenagers (their ritualistic chant in front of the "magic box" is alone worth watching). Alan Arkin gives a committed performance. But my favorite character was his girlfriend played by Judy Graubart. Best known for her stint on "The Electric Company", she provides a sweet sensible counterpoint to the film's general lunacy. And the message that ordinary isn't so bad is a decent lesson to promote. But the movie is just a little too weird and Arkin's character isn't terribly sympathetic. A bit of tweaking would have created a film more memorable.
-
Alan Arkin does love mind-bender roles, doesn't he?, and this gem was a virtual playground for him!
The players are all top-notch, and it's never dull for a moment.. but to explain it... hmm, wow.. well, it's really a film you have to judge for yourself..
It's very much like Woody Allen's "Sleeper", which I could watch all day long and still laugh as if I'd never experienced it before! And also herein are wisps of Arkin's most well known work, "Catch-22", in that it does deal with the mind and all its weird wacky wonders!
It's a sort of surreal fun romp, that takes you on one velly intellesting ride.. the scenarios are all hilarious, and it's a must-see for anyone who loves Alan Arkin, Austin Pendleton, and especially (Woody)Allenesque films, that take you just a bit to the left of the center of reality~ ..Ah, but then, that's trying to describe it, and again I recommend that you find it if you can, (I believe it has been put to DVD now), and experience it for yourself, because I would be hard-pressed to whittle it down to a simple description myself!
It's a screeeam, it's got a fabulous cast, and it's got a heck of a lot of phenomenal writers and creators behind it..
A highly underrated classic! . . . Do yourself a favor and see it! :) -
gridoon202419 March 2023Determinedly offbeat, but altogether unsuccessful comedy. Writer - director Marshall Brickman, more famous for his collaborations with Woody Allen on some of his most acclaimed movies (which, let's face it, is pretty much the only reason "Simon" is not completely forgotten today), has some ingenious ideas (the funniest bit: a love scene between a scientist and a super-computer, one of the film's at least two homages to "2001: A Space Odyssey"), but gets tangled up in his ambition to say too much; ultimately, most of his satirical barbs lack bite. He also allows Alan Arkin to overact too frequently. **1/2 out of 4.
-
alan-rosenberg13 June 2022I remember Marshall Brickman from WAY back - when he was a member of the folk group The Tarriers (2nd instalment) in the earlier '60's. He wrote and delivered some very humorous comedic interludes between songs. And of course there's his Oscar for co-writing Annie Hall.
But this Simon thing? It stinks. I'm flabbergasted that anyone would be taken it by it.
Elsewhere on this thread I saw a comparison to Dr Strangelove. Gads - that was brilliant, this thing is wretched. -
martin_houser6 June 2003A nice attempt at 1980-ish social commentary, but never provides the laughs and poignance it should have given the cast and situations. I found the unsympathetic characters, zany physical humor (see the poster), and somewhat lugubrious satire at fairly easy targets just didn't mix well. But it is a movie of it's time, so if you like the movies of the late 70s - that assume an intelligent audience that wants to be challenged - check it out.
-
I remember Marshall Brickman from his days as a Tarrier (2nd edition), writing and delivering some very funny comic interludes between songs. And of course his Oscar for co-writing Annie Hall, and also his many contributions to Jersey Boys.
But this Simon thing? UGH! Catastrophically inept. Not the least bit funny. I'm flabbergasted at the positive reviews on this site. There is no "brilliance" in this film - merely a lot of chaos and shouting.
Somebody on this thread actually compared this amateurish monstrosity to Dr Strangelove. Gads - please reconsider. -
JasparLamarCrabb3 August 2014A wildly inventive absurdist farce from writer-director Marshall Brickman. An arrogant group of genius eggheads design a plot to see how the public will react to the news that an alien is living among them. They brainwash loony scientist Alan Arkin into believing he's from another planet. Once he escapes, all hell breaks loose. This is a wicked satire on massive consumption, television, fake science and a ton of other things. Brickman and co-writer Thomas Baum fill this movie with so many clever touches, it's a real comic feast. Arkin is brilliant in a performance that is, unfortunately, largely forgotten. The large cast also includes such great character actors as Austin Pendleton, William Finley, Max Wright and Wallace Shawn. Judy Graubart is excellent as Arkin's exasperated girlfriend. Fred Gwynne, Madeline Kahn and Adolph Green are in it too. Green's role has to be seen to be believed.
-
Grozniak13 May 2006If you haven't seen this you are missing out on a real gem. It was an underground cult hit upon release, then vanished into obscurity. This is a clever, truly brilliant film and it's a true crime that it hasn't been released on DVD. One of Arkin's best performances, up there with Seven Percent Solution. A bizarre film that can appeal to all fans of Woody Allen films, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman TV show, etc. One highlight is the reference to the old TV program, Celebrity Bowling, which of course itself was one of the most bizarre things ever to hit TV screens. Worth the price of admission for that joke alone! Attention producers: DVD required asap please!
-
SIMON feels like a mashup of Woody Allen, Stanley Kubrick, and Mel Brooks. It is one of the strangest movies I have ever seen, and this is coming from someone who generally lives on a steady diet of cult oddities.
The whole thing is a satirical send-up of both intellectual snobs, low culture, consumption, and the religious mindset. The comedy is of the absurd variety, which might be too much for some tastes, but I laughed harder than I have in a long time at it. Alan Arkin is hilarious in the lead (his character's messiah complex is so well-done) and the supporting actors all hit the right notes.
I will say the film is a bit uneven in terms of pacing and biting off more material for satire than it knows what to do with (for example, I wish the TV-addicted cult had more to do). Things drag a little in around the 3/4 point, but not enough to make you sick of the movie. There is an element of drama in the last quarter which feels a bit out of tune with the previous insanity as well.
Still, this movie was fun. It's still in my brain. I can't stop thinking about (and laughing at!) it. -
octavalvehandle22 November 2009I remember being very impressed with "Simon" when I saw it on a cable. But that was more than 20 years ago. What I remember was that the humor was clever and offbeat. It wasn't goofy, just weird and fun. There is a similarity to Woody Allen's "Sleeper" and I would also place film like "The President's Analyst" in the this category. Whether it was funny or not, I don't recall. But it doesn't really matter. There are many comedies that are extremely entertaining but not necessarily laugh-out-loud funny.
Of all the films that are not available on DVD, this is near the top of my want list (along with another Alan Arkin film, "The Seven Percent Solution". I'm curious to see what I'd think of it now. The 9 star vote I've given it is based on my memory. Hopefully, when I see it again, it will hold up. -
lustron126 February 2009What a great film. I had never heard of this film before. I saw a video of this and was thoroughly entertained. If you are a Woody Allen fan, you have to seek this out! Marshall Brickman worked with Woody on Manhattan, Annie Hall, Sleeper...and it shines through this work. Alan Arkin is superb in his role...and Judy Graubart (who I was always infatuated with on THE ELECTRIC COMPANY)...oh, man, it is so nice to see her in a feature film! Austin Pendleton, Madeline Kahn, Wallace Shawn, Max Wright... They all round out a great cast! And Fred Gwynne as the sadistic army General...well that's the cherry on top!! See this if you can. PLEASE RELEASE THIS ON DVD!!
-
eichler223 October 2018Back in the early 80s, when I was still a kid, my parents subscribed to an early cable pay channel called Prism that showed uncut movies (along with sports, etc). Just recently I saw a trivia question about actors who have played Inspector Clouseau, which made me think of Alan Arkin, which suddenly brought back this dim memory of a weird movie I had seen a bunch of times on Prism. Specifically, I was picturing Arkin running through a parking lot with an oven mitt.
Not much to go on, but using IMDB I somehow figured out it was Simon, and a web search revealed that the movie was up on a certain video hosting site that shall remain nameless (but its initials are YT). So I watched it. Turns out my memory is crap. The scene I was thinking of was when Simon escapes from the research facility - he is running through a parking lot, but there's no oven mitt. Instead he sees a woman dancing with a man in a puffy silver suit (it kind of makes sense if you watch the film) and says "That lady is dancing with a potholder!"
That joke really cracked me up as a kid, and the whole weird, off-kilter vibe of the movie just stuck with me over the years. It's kind of a dark comedy, kind of a farce, kind of a social critique and just thoroughly odd. If you're the type that likes "cult" movies and intelligent, offbeat humor, you'd probably love it. If not, you'll probably hate it. It's that type of movie. I doubt there were many viewers who walked away thinking "Eh, it was OK".
Kind of a shame the movie has become so obscure that when you search IMDB for "Simon", it doesn't even come up in the short list of results. I had to get to it by looking at Arkin's film list.
Oh, and one last bit of trivia - while watching it, the music in the final scene seemed really familiar, so I watched the credits...hmmm, nothing that I recognize. Eventually I figured out it was Ravel's "Pavanne De La Belle Au Bois Dorman", and I recognized it because Joe Walsh did a rock instrumental version of it on his "So What" album under the title "Pavanne" and all these years I had no idea it was a famous piece of classical music. -
john-bickelhaupt19 March 2006"Simon" is dated by a number of the foci of different scenes (sensory-deprivation tanks and princess phones, for example). Still, it is one of my favorite comedies despite it's flaws. I can't qualify its appeal to me as entirely rational or securely grounded in aesthetic standards. I saw it on one occasion with a close friend of mine and my house mates at that time. He and I laughed our heads off while the house mates were puzzled by both the film and our reaction. They didn't like it. It's probably a safe bet that those who like the film "Annie Hall" will like this. The introduction to the secret government scientific foundation is a gas as is the "evolution" sequence. The composition of the closing shot is almost painfully beautiful but its impact is much diminished in versions formatted for television.
-
mushrom1 May 2000This movie is a true classic. I would compare it with Dr. Strangelove or A Clockwork Orange.
**POSSIBLE SPOILER** This is not a true spoiler, but may give away some parts of the plot.
Simon is a college professor who wants to be special. He plays around with sensory deprevation in an attempt to find his "inner self". A bunch of think-tank scientists convince him that he is an alien with unexpected results.
He soon goes beyond them, and releases a "stupid gas" on them and escapes. Fred Gwynn makes a great role as the General in charge of recapturing him.
He then goes and contacts a cult that worships TV and uses their ability to take over satelite transmission to create his own "fourth network" (remember in 1980 there were only 3).
This is a great movie if you want to relax. Alan Arkin and Madeline Kahn are excellent, along with the rest of the cast. -
I checked the "spoiler" box but I can't believe that anyone reading these comments hasn't seen the movie, forgotten about it, and is now trying to remember it. It's too old, too obscure, and was never very popular even in its day, so I don't think anyone is just discovering this movie. Simon is extremely funny, extremely intelligent and sometimes very, very silly. It's also a warm, affectionate, and in the end, redeeming movie. Just to remind those who may have forgotten some of the best moments I give you: Simon, creating language, names his hand "mongillo", then discovering he has two, exclaims, "Zwei mongillo!" Or Fred Gwynne as General Korey getting all excited about the "Stupid making gas?, Makes the enemy stupid?" The people who will laugh the hardest at this movie are kids, who will laugh at the silliness and slapstick, and at least reasonably intelligent people who will get the multitude of cultural, political, scientific, and countless other references. Without meaning to sound sexist,(yes, women are just as capable of getting all the references) unfortunately, many women will dismiss this movie as unfunny.I think this is because of the abundance of slapstick. It's a Three Stooges thing.