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Making “The Dark Knight Rises” look like “Occupy Wall Street for Dummies,” David Cronenberg’s “Cosmopolis” has the eerie, savvy sheen of a movie wholly unaware of its unmistakable relevance. This is no mere accident, as the film, which takes place in a sort of fever-dream version of 2010 New York, is not a reactionary work; it’s a pristine adaptation of Don DeLillo’s prescient 2003 novel, the first of the author’s books to be translated for the screen.
On the micro scale, it focuses on Eric Packer (Robert Pattinson), a 28-year-old billionaire whose entitlement sends him across gridlocked midtown for a very specific haircut. On the macro, it charts a highly familiar economic meltdown, which is especially bad news for our limo-riding hero.
Beautifully rendered and effortlessly retro, “Cosmopolis” has the aesthetic appeal of both a chic new art film and an old Cronenberg classic, boasting the bittersweet luxury of the modern 1 percent, and the screen-conscious tech flair of the director’s “Videodrome.” As the lead character, a cold young man of privilege losing his grip on all things, Pattinson is startlingly fantastic, taken to places by Cronenberg he’s never been as an actor.
There’s harldy enough space here to crack the film’s shell, for while some will find the faithfully transferred material indulgent and verbose, the scary-smart movie has more to say than maybe 100 films. It’s a stylized meditation on so many of our current woes, and a wonderfully curious study of the plights and fears of the modern human. It’s been years since Cronenberg delivered something this visually and aurally articulate, worthy of numerous viewings and readings. The seemingly random, yet keenly perceptive, brilliance of its words taunts you to keep up.
Well beyond Cronenberg’s usual fascination with frailty of flesh and mutilation, “Cosmopolis” is a movie of consummate decay, a mad downward spiral indicative of a man’s — and a society’s — slipping-down life. It ends with a ripped-from-the-headlines final act that’s as much a squaring off of classes as any scene concerning the French Revolution. And yet, we take it in as just a riveting, terrifically acted exchange between two men.
Cosmopolis
R
Four reels out of four
Opens tomorrow at the Ritz at the Bourse
Recommended Rental
The Moth Diaries
R
Available Tuesday
Fans of “American Psycho” will be pleased to know that the film’s director, Mary Harron, has returned with her first new movie since 2005’s “The Notorious Bettie Page.” “The Moth Diaries” stars Sarah Bolger and Lily Cole, and explores the angst of adolescence through a prism of black magic, vampirism, and fearsome feminine betrayal. Based on the novel by Rachel Klein, the film also stars Scott Speedman and Sarah Gadon.
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
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