In what is the second movie I see from David Cronenberg, Maps To The Stars offers us the dark side of Hollywood. Drugs, sex, scrupulous ambition, you name it. Any of sort of moral ground seems to fly out the window, as you see damaged people that are swallowed by the system and it's vices.
The movie is connected between two different plot lines. The first is the one featuring Julianne Moore's character Havana Segrand, an middle actress, who looks to grab the lead to a remake, in which she will play the role her mother played in the original. Her story is a sad, desperate case, in which she will push as far as she can to get what she wants. During the movie, she hires Agatha Weiss, a young shy girl, as her assistant. This will connect with the other plot line about a troubled family struggling to cope with the problems they face. Agatha is the daughter of Dr. Stafford Weiss (Cusack) and Christina Weiss (Williams). She was sent away after burning the house they lived in, endangering everyone, including her brother Benji Weiss (Bird), an obnoxious child star. It turns out that Agatha's intentions are of fixing things between her and the family, but of course trouble will arise. There is still a small role for Robert Pattinson, who plays a limo driver with dreams of making it big in the biz.
Maps To The Stars is a near brilliant film about the industry. It looks to provoke and make waves and for the most part it does. Moore's part is an effective tool in telling the audience the downside of fame. Having childhood scars plays it's role as well in the psychotic nature of Havana, as she has visions of her mother insulting her. Jullianne Moore does phenomenally as you'd expect and only adds that much more to the character. While the other plot line is a bit more muddled, it still brings forth important issues about "power" families and the dark secrets within. After Cosmopolis, this movie sure did its part in making me appreciate Cronenberg's work once more. I only hope his other, more acclaimed classics enlighten me as much as these movies have done.
Rating: 7,5/10
The movie is connected between two different plot lines. The first is the one featuring Julianne Moore's character Havana Segrand, an middle actress, who looks to grab the lead to a remake, in which she will play the role her mother played in the original. Her story is a sad, desperate case, in which she will push as far as she can to get what she wants. During the movie, she hires Agatha Weiss, a young shy girl, as her assistant. This will connect with the other plot line about a troubled family struggling to cope with the problems they face. Agatha is the daughter of Dr. Stafford Weiss (Cusack) and Christina Weiss (Williams). She was sent away after burning the house they lived in, endangering everyone, including her brother Benji Weiss (Bird), an obnoxious child star. It turns out that Agatha's intentions are of fixing things between her and the family, but of course trouble will arise. There is still a small role for Robert Pattinson, who plays a limo driver with dreams of making it big in the biz.
Maps To The Stars is a near brilliant film about the industry. It looks to provoke and make waves and for the most part it does. Moore's part is an effective tool in telling the audience the downside of fame. Having childhood scars plays it's role as well in the psychotic nature of Havana, as she has visions of her mother insulting her. Jullianne Moore does phenomenally as you'd expect and only adds that much more to the character. While the other plot line is a bit more muddled, it still brings forth important issues about "power" families and the dark secrets within. After Cosmopolis, this movie sure did its part in making me appreciate Cronenberg's work once more. I only hope his other, more acclaimed classics enlighten me as much as these movies have done.
Rating: 7,5/10