Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg, 2012)

Cosmopolis, the latest production of David Cronenberg (Videodrome, A History of Violence) resulted in a lot of discussion amongst the critics at this year’s Cannes Festival. After watching this film I can completely understand why. After his (for me) disappointing A Dangerous Method I was curious and even excited to watch this one in which the director supposedly went back to his roots. Personally I wouldn’t agree with this statement but this movie is for sure a typical Cronenberg mixing the ‘old’ and ‘new’ side of the filmmaker.

Eric Packer (Robert Pattinson) is a confident 28-year old billionaire who lives in New York City. He is a brilliant Wall Street prodigy who bet a lot of his capital on the yuan’s exchange rate. We follow him in his limousine on his way for a haircut. While losing most of his capital as the rate is going up Packer calmly discusses his philosophies with co-workers, friends, security guard and his lovers. All of this happens in his limo, he even gets a prostate exam while talking, and in the outside world the riots and threats against his life are getting worse and worse.

The long monologues and dialogue especially in the first hour of the film can easily be qualified as monotone and therefore dull. Even though some of the theories and topics are very interesting (consider we are in the near future) it is hard to keep your attention. Most of this appears to be due to Pattinson’s performance, but as the movie progresses we learn that this is exactly the point, and I think Cronenberg chose the Twilight-star for a very good reason. Not only does he have the right looks for this role, his lack of emotional expressions and somewhat cold manners are exactly what Eric Packer is like.

Of course a parallel could be drawn between Packer and Patrick Bateman, the protagonist in Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho, but there are some important differences. First of all the fun is missing in Packer’s monologue, it is not about his favourite bands or how he wants to kill women but about less superficial and more intelligent subjects. The comparison is very strong for the relationships Packer has, especially the one with his newly wed. In a few occasions these scenes had strong similarities in emotional (or lack of ) involvement. Patrick Bateman claimed not to ‘exist’ emotionally. Packer is craving for kicks and emotions, since the spoiled billionaire doesn’t seem to be impressed by all the dangers around him. It’s like nothing can or will hurt him. (Yes, when his favourite rapper dies, the whole world cries, what a future prospect!)

The dull start of the movie could easily spoil the rest and I can imagine a lot of viewers give up after a while, I have to admit I had a hard time getting involved with any of the characters (again, this is probably what Cronenberg wants) but after a while a dark and depressing mood struck me, this feeling is amplified by the impending soundtrack which reminded me of the director’s 90’s classic Crash.

The strongest part of Cosmopolis is the final scene with a brilliant Paul Giamatti who was a former worker for Packer. The role Giamatti plays shows how much better an actor he is than Pattinson, but again, his lack of talent is not problematic at all, it is functional I would say. Some typical Cronenberg stuff and great dialogue makes a thrilling final. The director takes a risk with this film and balances on a thin line between (functional) dullness and making a philosophical statement about the future. For me it partly worked, but I will probably not watch it again soon….

7/10