Rating:
by Derek Smith 6/9/06

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Satoshi Kon's anime thriller often plays as an examination of identity and celebrity, but ultimately gets so lost in its own complex structure that it doesn't end up saying much at all.  It begins with Mima's announcement that she is leaving the somewhat famous pop band, CHAM, to begin a career as an actress.  As she is constantly pushed by her show's producers into racier material, a rabid fan runs a web site that obsessively tracks the details of her daily life.  The disorienting shift from her childhood dream of being a pop star to the rough, unfulfilling adult world alienates her, causing her to question her decision while attempting to adapt.  The film soon becomes a surreal blend of dreams and delusions, building up multiple layers of reality which reflect the fractured state of Mima's existence.  For the first half of the film, this technique is exhilarating and effective in portraying her loss of innocence and sense of individuality, but eventually it becomes repetitive to the point of banality, making what could have been a brilliant conclusion come off as yet another illogical conclusion.  I don't mean to suggest it's a complete failure - when it works, it's an entertaining mindfuck of a film, but it gets a little too carried away with the duality between illusion and reality.  What begins as a pointed and strangely poignant ruminition on the devestating effects of the vast moral abyss that is the entertainment industry eventually becomes a mere guessing game of what is real and what is not.  After a seamingly endless series of segments being revealed as dreams and red herrings piled atop one another, I began wondering if it was more interested in making itself more complex rather than more intelligent.  In the end, it's stylish enough to remain fun and entertaining throughout, but certainly a bit of a disappointment.