Cosmopolis

Eric Packer, 28 year old multi billionaire assets manager, decides he wants a hair cut on the other side of Manhattan. But the president is in town, his security guard protests, and there have been rumours of ‘activity’ in the area – it would be easier to go to a barber nearby. No, we must drive to the other side of town, he repeats.

Based on the 2003 novel by Don DeLillo, the narrative structure of Cosmopolis is, fittingly, very post-modern; the majority of the film is shot inside a limousine, Packer’s personal ‘bubble’, and is assembled using different episodes and encounters he has with his various acquaintances. Due to the limitations of the vehicle, the audience is confined to Packer’s mind – we see and hear only that which he chooses.

Robert Pattinson plays a fascinating character. Packer is rich, intelligent, even married, yet he seems completely detached from the real world. His conversations involve him changing the subject whenever he is asked a question (“why are they called airports?”) and very rarely does he smile. If anything, American Psycho’s Patrick Bateman comes to mind; a man so wealthy, but so caged in by society that he relishes any form of chaos, be it street protests or an assassination on live television. One encounter with a college even finishes with Packer speculating what would happen if rats were to become world currency (“how much would a pregnant rat be worth?”).

Under Cronenberg’s expertise, there is no question that Pattinson has matured since Twilight, portraying a character with a complexity never seen before, both alienated and alienating, and undoubtedly the star of the show. Other cast members include Paul Giamatti, who is gripping as the existentialistic lunatic, as is Sarah Gadon as Packer’s under-appreciated wife. Over the years Cronenberg too has changed significantly in the style and content of his films, moving away from his ‘body-horror’ era and settling into a more psychological groove. His previous film A Dangerous Method centres on the motives and thought processes of the characters, and Cosmopolis is no different – here he focuses on the meaning of what is said, rather than what is done. However, while the heart of the film is this strange, distorted realism, there are some brilliantly surreal moments to Cosmopolis that make it completely enthralling, yet oddly curious.