Written and Directed by David Cronenberg based on the novel by Don DeLillo
Starring Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Samantha Morton, Paul Giamatti, Sarah Gadon
Several people walked out on the beautifully filmed and masterly directed COSMOPOLIS. The people we saw it with would have probably joined the march if we weren’t blocking the aisle. And there were times I longed to escape too. It is a film that required more preparation that I gave it.
PLOT: Eric Packer (Pattison) is a twenty-something billionaire who decides one day to limo over to his barbershop on the other side of town. The town is New York, but the film has the feel of a road movie over the few miles the limo covers. Most of the film, in fact, takes place in the limousine and that includes a prostate exam, sex (Binoche), and intense conversations (Morton) and with other characters that are difficult, if not impossible, to decode. The limo seems as capacious as Dr. Who’s Tardis at times.
The city that Eric passes through is in gridlock from a number of events, and he is able to dash out and have breakfast and lunch with his listless wife (Gadon) and sex with yet another woman who he begs to taser him. He finally arrives at his barbershop and then is accosted in the final scenes by Benno Levin (Giamatti) who attempts to do what we all want to do—get rid of this supremely unlikable character—a man who seems to hate himself as much as we hate him.

At times, I felt like this might have been more effective as a silent movie. We could have watched Eric Packer decline along with the city (country) that men like him raped. The visuals might have told the story more effectively than the dialog did. We might have found a regret in his face that we never found in his words.
I can’t recommend this but I will say I have thought about it quite a bit.
Patti
Be sure to stop by http://www.pattinase.blogspot.com/ to check out Forgotten Books every Friday as well as other thoughts, comments and reviews. A collection of her stories, Monkey Justice (Snubnose Press) can be found on Amazon