Maps to the Stars- 2014
Director-David Cronenberg
Starring-Julianne Moore, Mia Wasikowska
Scott’s Review #266
Reviewed August 14, 2015
Grade: A-
Maps to the Stars is a bizarre, unpleasant, film that is as dark and perverse as it is provocative and fascinating to observe and ponder.
More like an independent art film than a blockbuster Hollywood project and made by an arguably mainstream director, David Cronenberg (Crash, The Fly), I am surprised it was able to be made on a large scale budget due to the negative portrayal of actors and celebrity types, specifically, troublesome starlet and child star.
One must be wary of biting the hand that feeds.
Maps to the Stars is a film where almost all of the central characters are unlikable- difficult, unstable, self-absorbed or all of the above. The subject matter is ugly, but fascinating to me. The wealthy and glamorous are interesting and, at times the film is like a Greek tragedy as well as containing Shakespearean elements- think Romeo and Juliet in an incestuous way times two- one must watch this film to see what I mean.
Hint- it contains the ick factor.
The plot centers on a Hollywood family, where the son is a famous child star and the primary bread-winner. They are the Weiss family- all struggling to either find success or hang on to it, all the while each of them is neurotic.
The father, Dr. Samuel Weiss, played by John Cusack, is a TV psychologist, who is hired by Havannah Legrand (Julianne Moore), a highly self-centered, aging actress, struggling to land a coveted role-playing her mother. Her mother was a young actress in her day, who tragically died in a fire. Havannah despises her due to claimed childhood abuse.
Cristina Weiss (Olivia Williams) is Samuel’s wife, a very controlling, ambitious woman, who strives to get the most money out of her son Benjie, a Justin Bieber type character with a troubled streak.
Rounding out the family is Agatha Weiss, a troubled teenager, sent away for years after giving her brother pills and setting her parent’s house on fire. Though not directly related to the Weiss’s, Havannah, and limo driver, Jerome Fontana (Robert Pattinson) become heavily involved with the family as events transpire.
As I watched the film it reminded me of a myriad of other influential films and/or directors in peculiar ways. I noticed elements of David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, for instance, in dark clever mood and the obvious setting of Los Angeles- even the score is similar during parts of the film, as the moody monotone sounds played in the background.
The Ice Storm (1997), American Beauty (1999), and Magnolia (1997) also sprang to mind in their dark and strange worlds (Magnolia) and the inclusion of the dysfunctional family element (The Ice Storm and American Beauty).
Furthermore, to a lesser extent, I saw some Robert Altman ingrained in Maps to the Stars. These aspects are an enormous reason why I loved the film so much.
A prevalent theme throughout Maps to the Stars is one of burning- a victim of burning, a fire set, a character setting oneself on fire. Some characters see dead people. Havannah regularly sees her dead mother. Benjie sees a young girl who he visited in the hospital before she died, her last wish of meeting the big star. She suffered from Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, who he foolishly thought had AIDS. He sees her in visions and tries to strangle her, instead of strangling an innocent living person.
The film is a weird trip for sure.
There are times when the viewer will be filled with dread at an oncoming dark moment. When Benjie carelessly plays with a gun that he assumes is unloaded we know trouble will occur. He is showing off at an actor friend’s party along with equally obnoxious starlets while talking about poop, all selfish and wanting to party.
When Havannah belittles Agatha, her assistant, we see Agatha’s past anger come back into play as she slowly unravels with rage- Havannah, unaware of Agatha’s knowledge of her betrayal.
One small gripe is the continued use of gross toilet talk in multiple scenes including a raunchy discussion of a fan buying a well-known actor’s waste for thousands of dollars. What was Cronenberg’s motivation for this? This was a silly, tasteless, unnecessary element of any otherwise great film.
Maps of the Stars is dirty and ugly but is also a quirky treasure about bad people in Hollywood. Unpleasant characters whom I could not take my eyes off of.
A brilliant film that delves into Hollywood shallowness and madness and does it in such a daring, twisted, wonderful, sort of way.