Pattinson plays rich guy so poorly
‘I’m hungry for something thick and chewy,” our antihero growls at one point in David Cronenberg’s “Cosmopolis.” That being the case, he may want to refrain from watching this movie. There are plenty of ideas to gnaw on, given that Cronenberg has adapted Don DeLillo’s intense novel of a New York on the verge of a dystopian breakdown. But frustratingly bland work from lead Robert Pattinson results in an awfully watery stew.
Because the “Twilight” star is an actor of limited range, he has to be used carefully. Cast him as a member of the undead, and you’ve got the right idea. But asking him to carry an entire movie? Wrong approach entirely.
Pattinson plays Eric Packer, a billionaire financier taking his limo across midtown for a haircut. It’s not an easy trip. He and his driver (Kevin Durand) have to endure violent anti-capitalist riots, assassination attempts and, horror of all horrors, market fluctuations. Since it’s a Cronenberg picture, he also undergoes an existentially intrusive prostate exam. Most of this intentionally claustrophobic film is set in the car, as various friends and employees (including Juliette Binoche and Samantha Morton) hop in and out for brief, stilted chats or emotionally disconnected sexual encounters.
While Cronenberg is no doubt sincere in his attempts at social commentary, a static movie cannot sustain a static central performance. That there is no life in Packer himself is irrelevant; think of Christian Bale’s extraordinarily vivid turn as “American Psycho’s” Patrick Bateman, another cultural casualty devoid of soul.
So why did Cronenberg cast Pattinson in the first place? Durand, who does great work as the single-minded driver, might have made a terrific Packer. But who would earn more money for this movie about the corrupting nature of cash: the (vibrant) unknown or the (inert) superstar?
Cronenberg has made an emphatic statement about economic cynicism. But not, perhaps, entirely as he intended.