Maps to the Stars Reviews

Not so long ago, I saw 'Cosmopolis' which was just terrible and, by far, the least satisfaying movie directed by David Cronenberg so far. With this in mind, I was rather apprehensive about his following directing effort but, fortunately,  it was much better. To be honest,  I still didn’t really like it though but it was at least much more watchable.  In fact, the biggest problem was that, pretty much like in 'Cosmopolis', it was filled with characters who just were really unlikable and, therefore,  it was rather difficult to care about what they were going through. At least, it was a little bit more interesting and, once again, Cronenberg had quite an impressive cast at his disposal ( Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, John Cusack, Olivia Williams, Robert Pattinson) and they all delivered some really solid performances. The other thing that made the movie difficult to appreciate was that the structure was really uneven. Indeed, at first, it started with a multitude of characters, most of them living a rather decadent life  without an actual plot, like in a Robert Altman film, but, suddenly, half way through,  they added some kind of plot about this family with a really messed history. Anyway, even though the whole thing was rather half-baked,  I still think it was rather intriguing and I think it is worth a look, especially if you're interested in David Cronenberg's work.

Initial Thought: I was curious about this one. I haven't seen too many Cronenberg films, but I know to always expect a crazy storyline. It has a plethora of big names in it which caught my attention. So I don't expect anything less than entertaining. I do expect to possibly be confused.

Characters/Acting: The cast here is quite well chosen. Mia Wasikowska just fits within Cronenberg's storytelling. Robert Pattinson returns for another film after Cosmopolis. We get big names with Julianne Moore and John Cusack. Both of whom I like although I wouldn't say they are my favorites. I also noticed a few Degrassi stars in here which I always like to see. It was weird however to see them playing such adult roles. The character Benjie reminds me of Justin Bieber in his ways of being an asshole. Everyone here is extremely damaged and probably the most dysfunctional group of people I've ever seen on film. The performances were great given the talent working here. Evan Bird was the only one I felt iffy about. There were moments that you could see how amateur he was. I did notice in some scenes he did show off some good talent though. There is one thing I would have liked added to this film. I was hoping to see more actors playing themselves in cameos or small parts.

Story: A tour into the heart of a Hollywood family chasing celebrity, one another and the relentless ghosts of their pasts. I think they capture the essence of Hollywood for sure while making it much more brutal. The stories for a lot of these characters are some of the darkest things I've seen on screen. One thing I don't like here is the supposedly old black and white films that look nothing like old black and white films. That is always aggravating to me. The Artist was a film that really pulled it off, but that is one of the only ones. The last about thirty minutes or so everything goes batshit crazy. The ending was not what I was expecting at all.

Directing/Writing: Honestly everything I have seen from David Cronenberg gets the same rating. I haven't come across much yet that I would consider amazing or a favorite. So far the best I have seen was eXistenZ. I thought it was the most fun and unique. That being said I have the rest rated at seven. He is a unique director that's for sure though. Bruce Wagner wrote one of my favorite sequels of the Nightmare on Elm Street series Dream Warriors. With that in mind I expect this to be a pretty fun watch. It was well delivered. I wouldn't say it was fun given the content it deals with. However, it was entertaining. It's a very well written story that's for sure.

Final Thought: Well that was pretty uncomfortable. It's definitely disturbing. I'm sure there are pretty messed up stories in Hollywood. Do they get this messed up? I think occasionally there are some pretty horrid stories that happen. As for this I enjoyed it, but it definitely warps your mind. It's hard to recommend to everyone, but it might cater to the Cronenberg fans.

Forget the trite sperpentic story of incest, pyromania, young aspirants in Hollywood, and arrogance in Croneneberg point of view: the details and cast are worth the film. Julianne is excellent, Mia too, Pattinson cool, Cusack ok and the monster kids talking bullshit is the best joke.