Directed by David Cronenberg

 

Starring Robert Pattinson, Kevin Durand, Jay Baruchel, Juliette Binoche

A day in the life of Eric Packer, billionaire company owner, who takes his limo across the city, wanting a haircut but encountering a series of events that threaten to unravel his entire world.

This is a definite “thinker”. Structured so that the narrative is a series of vignettes with Packer (Pattinson) the central thread holding it together, Cosmopolis explores a series of social and political topics. It’s not a fast-paced film nor as readily accessible as A History of Violence but Cronenberg is still on top form. Pattinson has to carry the film and he is excellent – I really believed him as the bordering-on-autistic billionaire company owner, struggling to break free from restrictions imposed on his life, searching for new experiences. Every actor that then comes in is equally good but you feel that Pattinson is always on top and in control…until he begins to purposely lose it. This is where Cosmopolis gets interesting, after starting slowly, in trying to understand Packer’s motives for throwing control away and embracing the imperfect, which he initially clings appears to cling to.

Cosmopolis is good and I would see this if you wanted to watch a film that is going to challenge you and your perceptions of how you fit in to the world. Its 24 hours later and I’m still mulling over things and I hope to for a while yet. It’s not a film for the masses, it’s a exploration of ideas about the masses.

If you like this then you might like:

 

A History of Violence (Cronenberg’s first film with Viggo Mortensen, a powerful tale of a man hiding from his past), eXistenZ (mind bender, going in to a video game but plenty to ponder)