'Maps To The Stars' A Review

Maps To The Stars is a dark satirical drama about a group of corrupt tinsel town denizens. Havana(Julianne Moore) the petulant, pill-popping, aging starlet, Agatha(Mia Wasikowska) the diluted possibly unstable Floridian drawn by the allure of Hollywood, Stafford(John Cusack) the manipulative pop self-help guru, and Benjie(Evan Bird) the entitled, demanding, churlish child star are some of the despicable characters that inhabit this sickly, surreal, incestuous version of sunny LA. At first all the individuals navigate their own isolated stories but we come to find that they are all connected.

The tone of the film is difficult and a little dangerous, like many of Cronenberg's films it is bizarre and at times unwieldy. There are ghosts, most of the characters are so selfish and sordid they are unlikable, and many of the behaviors and situations range from inconsiderate to the grotesque. It is extremely dark yet funny, periodically violent yet absurd, melodramatic yet terrifying and fleetingly heartbreaking. A no-holds-barred attack on Hollywood that shows only despair and self-obsession with sharp edges. There is absolutely no redemption. The film is not for the faint of heart. It is horrific and perverse to various degrees of hilarity and disgust.

All the actors provide 100% commitment with delightfully slimy and disturbing results. Moore especially gives an incredibly brave performance as the shallow, base, image-obsessed actress. All her scenes are unsettlingly memorable but the funniest finds her on the toilet while questioning her assistant about her sex life. Cusack puts in his most dynamic performance in over a decade- sinister, calculating, and totally engaged- it's great to see him back in a film with some teeth.

Maps To The Stars is funny, spectacularly acted, and incredibly fucked up. An interpersonal Hollywood horror show not an amusing industry spoof.

See It.