Cosmopolis

I really enjoyed this Cronenberg film. Though my favourite films of his

are the incredible ones he did in my teens, during the 80's

('Videodrome', 'The Dead Zone' and 'The Fly' are nothing short of

outstanding, and works that no one else could have come up with), he's

really been thinking outside of the box for the past decade (even for a

consistently interesting creature such as he), and it's only been

recently, with both Sarah Polley and Denis Villeneuve emerging as vital

directors, that his ranking as the greatest Canadian director ever has

even had suitable competition for comparison.

I remembered when this came out, and I believe a critic from 'The Globe

and Mail' interviewed Cronenberg at its opening at Cannes, and he was

almost apologetic about using Pattinson. It sounded like he didn't want

to have to direct him. He made the excuse that he couldn't get funding

for his projects from North America anymore, which is a dirty rotten

shame, and had to go to Europe and Asia any time he wanted to make a

film in order to have it bankrolled, and the Japanese insisted on star

power to put moviegoers in the seats, and said there'd only be

financial backing if Cronenberg directed Pattinson. This was my first

experience watching the actor's work, and he did a fine job, no

problem. The supporting cast was strong, with many of my favourite

character actors of late, such as Paul Giamatti and Jay Baruchel. The

script, co-written by Cronenberg, was a strong statement about just how

out of touch the very rich are with the other 99% of us. I docked my

mark by 1/10 because I was pissed off that Cronenberg degraded one of

the finest actresses of our lifetime, Juliette Binoche here. I can't

even talk about it. It was as difficult for me to tolerate as Spike Lee

having Christopher Plummer call Jodie Foster something awful in the

otherwise excellent 'Inside Man'. Lee's off my Christmas card list for

sure this year, but Cronenberg being a fellow Canadian (I bet you

thought I was going to say white, hahaha), I'll be less angry. But he

better look over his shoulder if he tries something like THAT again. I

was THAT close to crossing HIM off my Christmas card list too...

I also remember from the time the film came out, an article and rating

on the film (I think it was 'The Globe and Mail' as well, and by the

same critic who had earlier interviewed him), saying that when he

watched it, he watched a few teenage girls leaving the theatre (most

probably because Pattinson was in it), saying it was the worst movie

they had ever seen. That's the only evidence you need that this is a

fine movie, well worth your time.