From the beginning, S1m0ne is a beautifully choreographed visual dance of images and mood. Then again, as "Tech Live" reports tonight, this is what we have come to expect from director Andrew Niccol-- the man behind The Truman Show, for which he garnered an Oscar nomination, and Gattaca, a futuristic story of a genetically imperfect man living in a genetically discriminatory society.

Like his earlier work, Niccol manages to bring an art-house film to an audience who doesn't otherwise go to art-house films. Colorful, contrasting images, that don't look over-digitized, leap off the screen.

S1m0ne is the story of Viktor Taransky, a down and out Hollywood director who is given the chance to create a mega star using digital technology. When S1m0ne, short for Simulation One, becomes an overwhelming success, Taransky, played by Al Pacino, is forced to take a backseat to his new star, even though, secretly, he is Simone.

Drawing in the audience

I found the film to be visually interactive and I cannot get a particular image out of my mind: In one scene the camera captures an audience watching a film on the big screen. From this reviewer's position within the theater, I was able to view the audience in front of me watching this very scene; in essence-it was an audience watching a screen, of an audience watching a screen. While this may very well have been serendipity, I wouldn't put it past Niccol to have made this his original intention, even if just for the few of us who sit in back row.

What the film maintains visually and conceptually, it loses in the storyline. The premise is certainly clever enough, but S1m0ne loses its grace when a sorry excuse for an antagonist is introduced. It's easy to recognize the "the bad guy" by his unshaven appearance, dark glasses and, oh yes, the trench coat. Oh brother. At this point in the film, everything seems to go Hollywood.

Suffice it to say S1m0ne is a nice little film and if you're looking for an alternative to the summer blockbuster, this might be it.