The Independent Gives Cosmopolis 4 out of 5 Stars
So I’ve seen the negative comments, the tweets about people walking out, the naysayers revelling in this claiming Rob’s got another flop on his hands and how only the obsessed believe this film is worth sitting through … or maybe not. Yada yada yada … I know Twitter only allows 140 characters but seeing “I hated it” or “don’t waste your money’ means absolutely nothing to me when it’s not backed up with an actual attempt to explain why.  And as for the negative reviews, some of them I get, but let’s face it, someone who usually reviews big budget Hollywood style films that they might enjoy is probably not going to enjoy this type of arthouse film. I’m not making excuses. It would be like asking me to review Lord of the Rings – I tried to watch the first one twice – honestly – but I fell asleep both times. So really if I was a reviewer I probably wouldn’t have been singing it’s praises because it’s not the kind of film I enjoy. Anyway, enough of my rambling.  The point is – I prefer reading reviews like Jonathan Romney’s from The Independent because he gives me some insight into what he believes Cronenberg and the cast have set out to do:
“Â David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis is a very stylish work. It should be, because it’s a film largely about style. Its theme is the heartless, even sociopathic detachment with which today’s hyper-rich lead their hermetically cushioned-in lives. The problem with stories satirising decadence is that what they satirise can end up looking seductive. What’s to stop Cosmopolis becoming as vacantly chic as the world it depicts?
The answer is Cronenberg’s ironic intelligence – although this is so finely tuned that it’s hard to pin down quite how it works. That’s why some of his most provocative films – among them, Crash and eXistenZ, both of them echoed here – are among his most misunderstood.
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Cronenberg hasn’t so much adapted as transcribed the novel: he’s trimmed its incident but left much of DeLillo’s hyper-stylised dialogue.
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Here’s what I mean about style: see Cosmopolis in a cinema with good sound, and listen to the way that Gadon’s silky, incantatory voice is recorded so that it’s like a physical object, filling the space around it. This might seem merely an effect, but it’s intrinsic to the outright difference of this film. Cosmopolis uses sound and silence brilliantly. The limo is a space capsule drifting weightlessly through town, excluding all external noise – which implodes into the car the second its doors open.
The car is at once throne room and coffin, its black leather interior as fetishistically realised as anything in Cronenberg’s car-sex drama Crash (look at Binoche’s stiletto propped post-coitally on the console). Outside, the world’s disorder scrolls frictionlessly by, like a live stream of a pageant happening in another universe.
The limo is Eric’s psyche, which can only remain security-sealed for so long; by and by, the world and his own mortality will get to him. But the car is also a stage for an ambulant chamber drama: this is the most overtly theatrical film Cronenberg has made, a series of heightened two-handers, culminating in the apocalyptic showdown with Giamatti’s Levin.
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Such is the film’s out-and-out otherness that Robert Pattinson – who puts up a strong, wryly amused show as the savagely blank Eric – himself becomes a stylistic element among many. This is a surpassingly odd film that some will reject outright, but I was totally won over.” [My emphasis]
See Jonathan liked it – it’s not everyone’s cup of tea and guess what – not once did he feel the need to reference Rob with “sparkly” or “vampire” unlike some *coughcritics/reviewerscough*. If you want to read the full review, click on link above.
And I need to thank Roberta who sent me the link to this article yesterday, but I just didn’t get a chance to read until now. Thanks hun 😀
10 comments on “The Independent Gives Cosmopolis 4 out of 5 Stars”
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Sue
Fantastic review, thanks Roberta & Maria. I’m really looking forward to ‘experiencing’ this movie with a completely open mind. I think I’m going to treat it like reading poetry ~ just let it flow and see where it takes me ~ and I can’t wait.
Cindy
Thank you Jonathan for giving an ( IMP) a unbiased no preconceived ideas review of this movie, so refreshing. If only as Maria has said the other *coughcritics/reviewerscough* could do the same. And well *hollywood blockbusters* just because it makes billions of dollars does not make it any good.Thanks for posting Maria& Roberta xo
Michelle
I am so over seeing those tweets & some people wonder why we loathe Twitter. As you say Maria, there’s never an explanation as to why they didn’t like it, it’s just flat out criticism. Arthouse movies like Cosmopolis are clearly something they are not into so why are they reviewing it in the first place. There are some movies that I have seen that aren’t my thing or that I haven’t got, so for me to give a review of it to anyone would be stupid. Really my opinion cannot be taken as anything solid.
I love the part you highlighted Maria “This is a surpassingly odd film that some will reject outright, but I was totally won over.†And it really is so good to read a review that doesn’t refer to anything Twilight related. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve rolled my eyes lately at the references. Those comments are getting way beyond old now. Great review Jonathan, thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Thanks Roberta & Maria. 43 days to go for us, cannot wait to see & appreciate Rob as Eric Packer with my own eyes.
Martha M
I agree with all of you 100%. That’s why I don’t waste my time on twitter.
Sue beautifully put. I will go see it and let it flow just like you said and see where it take me too. I’m sure that where ever it is that it does take me, it’ll be a place where I’ve never been before. a very unique place like no other. I can’t wait either.
Jules
Wow, I know its divided critics and movie goers but I’m happy to have avoided most of the negativity doing the rounds LOL still in my Rob bubble 😉 thanks for this one Maria, enjoyed it.
It’s been wonderful seeing all the positive tweets out there about the movie and particularly Rob’s performance. <3 hard to wipe the smile from my face seeing them all. 🙂
Anyhoo, I survived Eric Packer. Twice!! omg it's brilliant – seriously different but totally absorbing. I found the dialogue a bit strange when I read the book (have read it twice, enjoyed it more second time around) but in the movie it's so good to hear these amazing actors tackle it. Reminded me of a modern day Shakespeare play – very wordy but spellbinding and intense. The cast are great, particularly all the women with Rob, Giamatti is fantastic and Rob is brilliant throughout but surpasses anything and everything with the end scenes with Giamatti. Haunting performance. Stays with me still.
The movie messes with your brain but in a good way. It's not an easy movie but its rewarding and beautiful in many many ways. Hoping to see it more….
Michelle
Love hearing your thoughts on the movie Jules & how brilliant the end scene with Rob & Paul is. That scene is the one that I knew I could NOT wait for when I was reading the book.
43 days to go… C.A.N.N.O.T wait!
Sare
Love seeing positive comments. Seriously though if you’re going to a reviewer/critic shouldn’t you be impartial to all actors/directors and so forth? Maybe it’s just me. I think they’ve gotten so used to the big budget blockbusters that they don’t embrace the arthouse films that have so much more depth and meaning to them than the typical ‘hollywood’ movies. Rant over sorry.
43 days????? HURRY UP!!
Maria
Thanks @Jules – as you know – I can’t wait for the scene where Eric has the breakdown in the limo during the funeral. That was the scene in the book that stuck with me and I so wanted Rob to tackle it.
Bleh you know what I think of Twitter.
@Sare – you would think, but it’s hard to believe it when you read half of the crap out there. If they have valid explanations of why they didn’t like the film, that’s fine, it’s what makes us individuals, but when it’s just a scathing attack because they don’t like Rob .. then I’m not really interested in their opinions.
Michelle
You would think so Sare, sadly people these days don’t seem to be able to be impartial & give things a fair go. Give me a deep & meaningful arthouse movie like Cosmopolis any day. I prefer my movies with substance. Love love love that Rob treats us with all these wonderful roles.
Jules
@Sue I meant to say its funny you mention treating it like poetry. That’s what I did reading the book the second time and I think why I found it more enjoyable. You find a rhythm and its easier to lose yourself in. 🙂 letting the dialogue flow all around you from these wonderful actors in the movie is just brilliant….its incredibly hypnotic. I’ll shut up now. LOL