Cosmopolis

Don DeLillo’s Cosmopolis was published in 2003, but judging by David Cronenberg’s new film adaptation, it has become more relevant and topical with every passing year, month, and zeptosecond (the concept is explained in the film). Do you like the idea of juggling absurdly high, almost unreal sums of money; fortunes that are there at dawn but have evaporated by dusk? The farcical stock launch of Facebook? Robert Pattinson plays a Wall Street vampire who makes all other vampires blush: a 28-year-old who unscrupulously applies his extremely well-developed analytical skills to becoming richer than ridiculously rich every day. He has not merged with a fly, a car, or a video game, but with the System. The Twilight fan club is certainly in for a big surprise. Just like the financial markets, the billionaire has to be fed new information constantly. The information junkie and his lackeys analyse everything, including human relations and whims, until nothing is left. He/it is completely self-destructive. You miss one small anomaly and it is all over. Cronenberg is clearly on his home ground with this book adaptation. The film could have been called Crash, if it weren’t for the fact that he used that title in 1996. That film about the eroticism of car crashes was hypnotising. Cosmopolis is not.

Pattinson talks and talks. Sometimes his chatter is intriguing, sometimes boring, sometimes over your head. Despite the threatening music, the intended atmosphere of doom doesn’t overwhelm you. It is a solid parable, but it is too cold and not gripping enough. At least for a weary film journalist nearing the Cannes Film Festival finish line. Be sure to let him know if he is wrong.

Cosmopolis ●●
US, 2012, dir.: David Cronenberg, act.: Robert Pattinson, Paul Giamatti, 108 min.