Review of Maps to the Stars (2014) by Foxgrove — 08 Mar 2015

David Cronenberg is no stranger to controversial or bizarre material but he probably has more misses than hits in his film canon. His best films have strong narratives and lack ambiguity of which 'Eastern Promises' and 'A History of Violence' are great examples. Both, incidentally, starring Viggo Mortenson.

Maps to the stars is not only ambiguous, it's also a load of pretentious mumbo jumbo. Julianne Moore, herself an advocate for edgy material, won best actress at Cannes for her role. However, anything good in her performance is cancelled out by a lack of clarity and poor direction. Every character comes over as unsympathetic and an unusually varied cast do not gel well. John Cusack in particular seems out of his depth. One is relieved when it ends and further analysis of what has transpired is as pointless as it is unwanted. I had high hopes initially, arriving as it did with critical and festival kudos, but it can join 'The Naked Lunch' as a first class clinker and be written off as another failed experiment from Cronenberg.