Maps To The Stars
Cast: Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska, Robert Pattinson, Evan Bird, John Cusack, Carrie Fisher
Director: David Cronenberg
112 mins
With Crash, Cronenberg created a captivating and nihilistic piece which helped his body of work soar, but that has been replaced since with this - yet another glossy and laconic mopeathon which seems characteristic of this latest phase.I can't even point to any truly repellent performances - the casting is still up there with his great films and the actors are doing exactly what the script calls for, and possibly in some cases even more.
Story-wise, this is a meagre offering, an uneven tale about a (truly horrendous and precocious to the point where you’d cheerfully strangle him) child actor and his demanding parents, a young girl who comes to New York and befriends a limousine driver, and a needy and resentful actress well past her sell-by date. How these stories connect is the core plot of the film, but this is hardly the stuff of a compelling who-dunnit. Apart from one scene that's as jarring as it is effective, the whole film just shuffles along. Cronenberg famously shoots most of his films in his native Toronto, and here, with augmentation by CGI, the city does an almost passable job of playing Los Angeles. That said, between the chilliness of the performers and the sterility of the digital filming, this is the least Californian representation of L.A. that's been captured in some time. We can convince ourselves that this is a different Hollywood, but even when the few location shots are intercut, it all feels a bit stretched.
If we start nitpicking the actors' choices, it's clear that John Cusack simply lacks the charisma and zeal in order to be a cult leader. One need only look at Tom Cruise in Magnolia, or even Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street, to see how different choices result in far more captivating performances. Julianne Moore's fine raw power is on display, but the Blanche DuBois act feels equally wrought. Mia Wasikowska and Robert Pattinson are perfectly adequate. Newcomer Evan Bird can spout "Jew cunt" as written on the page and come across as a pain in the arse when called for, but his venom comes across more as mini school-bully than truly demonic child actor.
Finally, a chunk of the film rests on a cliche that's so tired and ridiculous that it almost plays as a comedy, a plot device more deserving of a M. Night Shyamalan script than one by Cronenberg. A huge proportion of the blame can be laid on the plotting of the script (apparently it was eventually turned into a novel when the project was delayed). After a while, we just don't care about these miserable gets, and no matter how stylised or shocking something's meant to be, it just feels more laborious than intense. Cronenberg is now in a phase that simply no longer connects, creating cold and dreary cinema that's as dull as it is forgettable. He nevertheless remains one of the great masters of the medium, so I can only hope that his next project picks him from this period of meandering mediocrity.
The Babadook
Cast: Daniel Henshall, Tiffany Lyndall-Knight
Director: Jennifer Kent
90 mins
This one of those horror features where the monster is inspired by specific fears and nightmares. Initially it would appear that the film's primary grotesque is six-year-old Samuel (Noah Wiseman), a total brat who barely takes a breath between screaming for attention – rarely listens, and makes life a constant hell for his widowed mother Amelia (Essie Davis) . He also insists on yelping out at any inappropriate moment to anyone in earshot that his father died the day he was born.He builds wooden weapons to combat the monsters he firmly believes are hiding under his bed. The latest in a line is The Babadook, a dark creature in a top hat with giant weapons for hands, which mysteriously appears amongst a pile of books in a pop-up story. Maybe there's a Babadook, maybe not, but when Samuel gets expelled from school, it's trouble for Essie either way – and Writer/Director Jennifer Kent doesn't hold back on the imagery and emotional rollercoaster. Samuel just doesn't stop, and while he's not quite shrill, he's written as a very difficult child, the sort where even if he turns out to be right about this monster, it's not going to make Amelia look the fool for doubting him or being frustrated, as is often the case.
Amelia hasn't slept in ages due to all this turmoil and to look at her from the start is to see someone who is drained to the point of physical and emotional exhaustion. Essie Davis is great in all facets here. For as much as Amelia is tremendously frustrated with Samuel and generally ground down, there's also never any doubt that she loves him very much, even as those extremes push her toward moments that could easily come off as too much. It's a terrific performance under any circumstances, and not one you'll often find at the centre of a horror film. The cast is tight, with Noah Wiseman doing similarly strong work as Samuel. He’s actually astonishingly good in this for someone so young (albeit within some excellent editing) - and Barbara West contributes the occasional grounding necessary as their elderly next-door neighbour. Those who fancy a night out at the pictures to be scared don't just have to settle for a flick showing what it's like to have disobedient children, though; Kent amplifies that feeling and concentrates it into a supernatural villain that works in large part for how sparingly he is used, keeping to corners and a few effects scenes but still present through various fake-outs and a nightmarish children's book.
The climax though is a slight let-down after all that’s gone before – almost as though Kent simply ran out of steam and couldn’t quite bolster together a powerful conclusion. It's still thrilling, though, which is more important. "The Babadook" knows where it's coming from and mines that place for all it’s worth.
