Film Review | Cosmopolis (2012)
Meaning and purpose are questioned in this challenging drama-thriller from David Cronenberg.
Cosmopolis is an odd piece of cinema. Its direction is so precise, finding any fault in it is difficult. Yet somehow the film feels utterly flawed to the very core. Directed by David Cronenberg, Cosmopolis is an adaptation of Don DeLillo’s 2003 novel of the same name. I myself have never read the book, but it received mixed reviews from critics upon its release. Opinions of the work have not appeared to change in the 19 years since its publication, so from what I can tell, Cronenberg perfectly adapted a middling literary work.
Robert Pattinson plays 28-year-old billionaire Eric Packer, a man who’s about as disconnected from reality as anyone can be. He, along with other ultrarich citizens of New York City, seem less human than most of the popular androids from sci-fi classics. Entirely bereft of emotion, Eric speaks with members of his company in lengthy sentences teeming with existentialism. Every single word is delivered with monotone indifference, there’s nothing of interest for them in the world except for their obsession with building wealth and moving into the future. It’s a hollow existence, surely, as the future presents no sense of hope. The only thing the future has to offer is that it isn’t the…
