Cosmopolis (2012)
Average Rating: 6/10
Reviews Counted: 163
Fresh: 105 | Rotten: 58
Though some may find it cold and didactic, Cosmopolis benefits from David Cronenberg's precise direction, resulting in a psychologically complex adaptation of Don DeLillo's novel.
Average Rating: 5.8/10
Critic Reviews: 32
Fresh: 16 | Rotten: 16
Though some may find it cold and didactic, Cosmopolis benefits from David Cronenberg's precise direction, resulting in a psychologically complex adaptation of Don DeLillo's novel.
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Average Rating: 2.6/5
User Ratings: 35,271
Movie Info
New York City, not-too-distant-future: Eric Packer, a 28 year-old finance golden boy dreaming of living in a civilization ahead of this one, watches a dark shadow cast over the firmament of the Wall Street galaxy, of which he is the uncontested king. As he is chauffeured across midtown Manhattan to get a haircut at his father's old barber, his anxious eyes are glued to the yuan's exchange rate: it is mounting against all expectations, destroying Eric's bet against it. Eric Packer is losing his
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Cast
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Robert Pattinson
Eric Packer -
Juliette Binoche
Didi Fancher -
Samantha Morton
Vija Kinski -
Sarah Gadon
Elise Shiffrin, Elise S... -
Mathieu Amalric
Andre Petrescu -
Jay Baruchel
Shiner -
Kevin Durand
Torval -
K'Naan
Brutha Fez, Sufi Rapper -
Emily Hampshire
Jane Melman -
Paul Giamatti
Benno Levin -
Patricia McKenzie
Kendra Hays -
Philip Nozuka
Michael Chin
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Cosmopolis Trailer & Photos
All Critics (163) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (105) | Rotten (58) | DVD (3)
The rapid dialogue is dry and mannered, like a David Mamet play, there's virtually no story and Cronenberg's visual scheme is cold and claustrophobic.
Top CriticIt feels like each and every moment bursts forth with urgent dialogue, and yet what does anyone actually say?
There's not really a movie there, nothing that sustains itself from scene to scene and nothing that's worth watching from beginning to end.
The film is all too faithful to its un-cinematic source.
"Cosmopolis," because of its allegiance to the book's mannered, offbeat language, feels like it never wakes up.
Poor Pattinson does the best he can. He's not terrible. But he's definitely out of his element, if not beyond his depth, an altar boy in a bishop's robes.
Cronenberg is not a director to be daunted by a scenario in which the antihero spends most of his time in a stretch limo. Turning it into a film that interests anyone ... is another matter
Cronenberg's cold, exacting precision and emotionally removed observation may not grab all viewers, but under those perfect surfaces is a raw horror trying to claw out of the denial.
"Cosmopolis" is a hypnotic examination of our modern anxieties about the dehumanization brought on by wealth, power, and technology.
While not one of Cronenberg's stronger films, this anti-capitalist adaptation still merits attention.
Robert Pattinson works mighty hard to make Cosmopolis more than just an erudite slap at modern capitalism. The Twilight heartthrob ultimately fails to rescue a meandering story hitting stale versions of the same talking points.
The anger over the injustice of the financial collapse and bailout is what powered the Tea Party movement as well as the Occupy Wall Street movement, and it powers this movie, too.
For those who like their Cronenberg thick and chewy
For better or worse - often both - Cosmopolis is a quintessential David Cronenberg film. Cosmopolis is simultaneously fascinating and impenetrable, profound and absurd, labyrinthine yet intimate.
For one of the smartest films I've seen in a while, Cosmopolis is also one of the least outwardly enjoyable. That by no means makes it anything less than a great film however.
Its major problem is that it's not cinematic.
It's fascinating to watch Pattinson actually acting, rather than merely brooding through another "Twilight" movie, but he's as trapped in Cronenberg's sterile intellectualism as Packer is in his leather-upholstered hell.
A black comedy as dry and deadpan as a bleached skull. To this end, the movie opens with a sort of death's-head grin: an in-your-face closeup of the grille of a stretch limousine...
For all the doomsday build-up we get in the first 90 minutes, Packer's primary antagonist turns out to be such a mundane construct you can't help but feel crestfallen.
While 'Cosmopolis' is mostly emotionless and a big letdown it isn't completely boring and has the potential to be better with repeat viewings, but it just isn't as good as a Cronenberg film should be.
In the past, Cronenberg has used such deadpan performances to striking effect, but in the case of Cosmopolis, the approach just leaves a giant vaccum in the soul of the celluloid
... a movie about a sentient zombie, trapped in a womblike limousine while outside the dead souls of Manhattan roil, spraying paint on his windows and hurling rats. Everything he wants is posthumous.
Those who said Don DeLillo's book was unfilmable were wrong. This is a film. That much is undeniable. Whether it's a compelling one is a whole other question.
"Cosmopolis" is proof that a film can be provocative yet completely un-enjoyable.
It's fascinating but anti-cinematic and a frustrating film to get your arms around.
Audience Reviews for Cosmopolis
Super Reviewer
I would have to say that enjoying this movie depends completely on your ability to understand Robert Pattinson's character. If you can't, it's going to be hard to like this film. Cosmopolis is a movie of immense potential and incredible setup. What it lacks in though are the things that make movies easy to watch and get into. I was fully engaged the whole film because the thin plot had a lot of great ideas and philosophical meanings behind them, but it was missing everything from dialogue that sounded real to actors that seemed real. The only saving grace as far as acting goes was Paul Giamatti's scene at the end of the movie. Everyone else was dull and boring, as was the dialogue that was coming from their mouths.
Cosmopolis follows a rich, young man who we assume works on Wall Street. The economy is beginning to collapse and all around the city are protestors who want blood. They want Eric Packers blood too. He is constantly being updated by his bodyguard of the impending situation. Eric doesn't seem at all fazed by it though, as he drifts around the city in his limousine, talking with other people, and just trying to make it to get his haircut. Like I said, the plot is thin. There's not much in the way of action either, as it is mostly weird, dull dialogue.
Cronenberg is still one of those directors that I fail to understand. As with Lynch, I love his ideas and I like his complete dedication to his projects, but he fails to present it in an interesting way at times. This wad the case here with Cosmopolis. It's not completely his fault though, as Pattinson made his character almost impossible to listen to, with a soft, boring voice and so little emotion, I wondered if he was alive at times when he wasn't talking.
This isn't something I liked, but I do have a certain respect for it. It has a feel all its own, as every Cronenberg film does. The cinematography is extremely well done and the movie is obviously made with the intent to make the audience think. It did manage to do that, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized; I didn't like what I was watching.
Super Reviewer
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- Benno Levin: There is nothing in the world but other people.
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- Shiner: Is there a reason why we're in the car instead of the office?
- Eric Packer: What makes you think we're in the car instead of the office?
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- Elise Shiffrin: Love the world and trace it in a line of verse.
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- Eric Packer: You're forcing me to be reasonable. I don't like that.
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- Benno Levin: Everything in our lives, has brought us to this moment.
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- Vija Kinski: Destroy the past, make the future.
Discussion Forum
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Movie: ID: 771225278 Title: Cosmopolis Release Date: 2012-08-17 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 4 Status: 1
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Foreign Titles
- Cosmópolis (ES)
His limo is tricked out and state-of-the-art. It's basically his own little microcosm he seals himself in to avoid the dregs of society outside. The story is rather surreal in tone, and feels otherworldly. Oddly though, it feels timely too, as some of the stuff Eric encounters parallel real world events. It seems odd that it would take him all day to get to his preferred barber, but the traffic jams he's caught in are the result of a presidential visit, the funeral procession of his favorite musician ( a Sufi rap artist), and anti-capitalist demonstrations by an Occupy-style group.
Along the way, besides encountering said traffic slowing obstacles, Eric also conducts business in his limo, including trysts with a few women, a meeting with his new, albeit frigid and bored wife, meetings with co-workers and, a prostate exam with odd results. He also sees his business dealings falter, and learns someone is apparently out to assassinate him.
This is all very troubling stuff, but he seems to be rather uncaring, if not welcoming of this ruin. The film concludes with a lengthy confrontation with the apparent assassin, highlighted by a very lengthy philosophical discussion.
This seems like pretty perfect material for writer/director David Cronenberg. It's odd, thought provoking, and a real head trip at times. Unfortunately, it's also largely dull, if not really boring, ends anti-anticlimactically, and feels really under cooked, which makes sense given that Cronenberg wrote the script in like 6 days. It at least is shot well, looks great, and tries to do something meaningful, even if it falls short.
I applaud Robert Pattinson for trying something different and ambitious, but I don't think this'll quite help him shed the long shadow cast by Twilight. He's backed by some interesting supporting players like Jay Baruchel, Mathieu Amalric, Samantha Morton, Juliette Binoche, and Paul Giamatti, but none of them really do anything spectacular or groundbreaking.
I wanted to like this. It seemed like it would be really intense and gripping, and, while it does have its moments, it goes on for way too long, and proves to be largely 'meh' more than anything else.