Written and Directed by David Cronenberg.
Starring Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Sarah Gadon, Mathieu Amalric, Jay Baruchel, Kevin Durand, Samantha Morton and Paul Giamatti.
SYNOPSIS:
A journey across Manhattan in a stretch limousine turns into an eventful day in the life of a young billionaire asset manager.
David Cronenberg is anything but a ‘safe’ director. He takes chances and explores themes and ideas of the human psyche which many other filmmakers wouldn’t dare go anywhere near in fear of alienating their audience; many directors stick to what they know best, and although Cronenberg’s films are rarely a runaway financial success, he is constantly producing work which gets an audience thinking and he can no longer be typecast as the ‘body shock’ director. Just look at his last three pictures: Eastern Promises, A Dangerous Method, and now Cosmopolis.
Despite being a Cronenberg fan and really enjoying A Dangerous Method a lot more than some critics, I found Cosmopolis to be a complete disaster from beginning to end. Both A Dangerous Method and Cosmopolis are very word-heavy scripts and contain little or no action or excitement, but A Dangerous Method was interesting and was based on intelligent characters who, when they spoke, you believed what they were saying and that they would speak the dialogue they spoke. In Cosmopolis, the dialogue rapidly grows tedious and becomes unfathomable as to what the point to any of it is, or where it is going. This is a one act film in desperate need of a plot.
The true failings are in Cronenberg attempting to bring Don DeLillo’s novel to the screen. I read the novel a few months ago having watched the trailer for the film and was intrigued to find out more especially as I’d not read any DeLillo before. The book, like so many, has next to no story but bubbles with subtext underneath. My first thought when finishing the novel was that it was an average read, but my second thought was ‘how are they going to make an interesting and engaging film out of that?’ and having now seen the film the answer is ‘it can’t be done’.
Cronenberg’s direction is all over the place here and the film looks and feels like it’s based on a stage play; the non-stop talk and conversation might be acceptable on a stage where you’d pay for such entertainment but not on a cinema screen and certainly not with this material. Moreover, the film never feels like it has any direction from the start and it is a clear failure after only a short period has passed. None of the peripheral characters are given any substance or life on the screen, yet each have a lot to say for themselves but little of it is of any real interest. Robert Pattinson, as the lead character who spends the majority of his time inside a limousine, is watchable and one can understand him wanting to work with Cronenberg, but this material is beyond them both.
Ultimately, like American Psycho, what might be acceptable on the written page does not make for an entertaining adaptation and this must go down as one of Cronenberg’s weakest films.
Flickering Myth Rating - Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★
Rohan Morbey - follow me on Twitter.
Geez, I read the book twice. Didn't understand Packer's arc. Second time, got it. Everything fell into place. Haven't seen the movie, very much want to as Mr. Cronenberg & Mr. Pattinson are brilliant. This is a multi-level film & will become iconic.
ReplyDeleteI've read the book 4 times and I agree: you have to read it more than once to have a bit insight in who Eric Packer might be. I say 'might' because every reader has his/her own idea of him. It was also only at the second read that I could enjoy the rich dialogues.
ReplyDeleteI've seen the movie 3 times now and I just love it the more I watch it. David had to use these style of dialogues to stay true to the concept of Cosmopolis. They didn't bother me, it's like listening ot poems.
Long ago, once in a week, our TV channel showed a special movie that was introduced by a critic who explained why/how the film was made and what was special and so. This is such a movie, people can't go inside without knowing what they can expect.
I am not a Cronenberg fan but IMO he did a wonderful job here. Maybe he put the bar too high, I don't know but I think that his fans aren't giving him the credits he deserves with this movie. It is his most less accessible one but it is still Cronenberg who made it. And Pattinson did a 'tour de force' in bringing the alienated, detached but so vulnerable Eric Packer on screen.
In case of mistakes: English isn't my native language.
We differ again. I thought Cronenberg eviscerated DeLillo's Cosmopolis to stamp it as HIS property. His reading of Cosmopolis was shallow, and I have read other things you said about it, your number of re-readings. Cronenberg read it in one sitting and then started pasting it into software.What a scholar! His multiple mis-readins are legion by now. Rob had a much better understanding of Eric Packer but didn't get much help or reinforcement. They were told NOT to read the book before filming. Again so Cronenberg could have a dictator's view of how it should be read and shot. I could go on but I have elsewhere to extremes. See the Ebert review at Cannes. Some interesting comments on it over there. Pattinson's performance escaped Cronenberg's mess. His Eric Packer receives good reviews while Cronenberg does not. This is one mark of a good actor: that they can survive and thrive even in a poorly conceived and directed film with a less than good screenplay. Cronenberg is slippery. How do you blame his screenplay when he took it from DeLillo? Clever. It is his shallow reading of the book that I damn and condemn.
ReplyDeletePLease come read my Cosmopolis blog. I have read it in a myriad of different ways. Sine you have read it carefully I think you will really like the posts and the comments. Please visit: http://cosmopolisfilm2.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteSome of the best and mosr constructive comments I've read from one of my film review; thanks guys! Keep them coming!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rohan. Is your heart strong enough to endure the shock that at least 2 out of the 3 posters here belong to Robert Pattinson's worldwide fanbase? lol. Rob knows his fans, he's right when he stated in his recent interviews that a big part of his fan base are educated women. Most of us have read the novel and discussed it over and over. Many of them (not me in particular) are also known with Cronenberg's work so for them Cosmopolis was a win win situation. Believe me, confronted with a lot of his fans, like abbeysbooks, I often feel like a simpleton. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's nice though that, for a change, I can change thoughts with male posters.
Time, abbey, time. I need a lot of money so i can buy me some time (and less work lol). The chief of theory was so right in what she said. But I've saved your reply, so I can take a look.
ReplyDelete