Cosmopolis Reviews Part 3 - Robert Pattinson is "excellent in a difficult role"

Cosmopolis Reviews Part 3 - Robert Pattinson is "excellent in a difficult role"



We've been gathering the reviews and they've been really great for Rob!

• Part 1 - "Robert Pattinson giving a commanding, sympathetic portrait!"
• Part 2 - "Sensational central performance from Robert Pattinson"
• Spoiler Post - "Intellectually demanding...visually beautiful...Rob's performance is extraordinary."

We're going to start a new batch because I'm addicted to people outside of our world praising Rob. It's about time they see what we see.

Excerpt from CBC (Canada):

In this realm, it's obvious why Pattinson has become Cronenberg's new Viggo: he has the aquiline profile of a Cronenbergian protagonist and a certain feral cunning in his cold, dark eyes. More importantly, there's nothing standing in the way of the script. Pattinson is a vessel, a piece of glass. In between delivering his lines of dialogue, he is so still that one questions his existence. It's a quandary magnified by the introduction of a parade of employees connected to the billionaire.
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In and out of the limo they go, each more emotional than the last, while Packer crawls toward his destination. At one point, the limo is enveloped by rioters waving rats and spray-painting its windows. Even as the protesters rock the car on its chassis, Pattinson rides out the storm, sipping his vodka with a repressed smirk.

Excerpt from dorkshelf.com:

In the film, Eric is played by Robert Pattinson; a wise and prescient choice for DeLillo’s leading man seeing that he comes from a style of new money made up of pretty boys described at one point by one of Eric’s numerous, long suffering assistants as being so dreamy they’re practically on life support. Stymied in his efforts to reach his status symbol goal by global anti-finance protests and losing millions by the second due to the rise of the Yuan he heavily leveraged against, Pattinson’s Eric serves as the viewer’s eyes and ears throughout this world. We’re seeing the world exactly as he sees it and not how it actually is since there isn’t a single scene in the film that Pattinson isn’t in. It’s the true starmaking performance that the actor has probably long hoped for and he carries the film wonderfully.

Eric isn’t detached from his world despite how aloof he must seem. He’s a workaholic and cursed with the downfall of great intellect and wealth. He is the embodiment of DeLilo’s seemingly Marxist philosophy that at some point capitalism will begin to move so quickly that no one will be able to keep up. With his boyish good looks and ability to turn his character on a dime, Pattinson shows how Eric is tormented by his ability to see all sides to an issue and how his own knowledge makes him equal parts paranoid and reckless. Even his own wife that he barely has any relationship at all with (played by Sarah Gadon) remarks that Eric has a great deal of science and ego combined.
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The arguments will be made back and forth that the film still isn’t a “return to form” for the director or that it’s a masterpiece that will be heralded for its prescient nature given the current state of the global economy, but what makes Cosmopolis brilliant in its own way is that none of those arguments matter when the film itself is allowed to be scrutinized on its own merits. It’s a hard and challenging film for casual viewers to ever hope to have in “in” with, but for those willing to follow along and let the film wash over them in the same way a great book can take over the imagination, Cosmopolis is a heck of a ride. It’s an impossible film to sum up with a full critical analysis in less than 1,000 words, but it will lead to some great discussions amongst those who see it.

MORE review excerpts after the cut!

Excerpt from HeyUGuys. They loved Rob, the movie so-so:

So, er, yeah. It turns out Robert Pattinson can really act.

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And Pattinson totally kills the role. He’s dismissive and elitist, yet also dripping with charisma and downright swagger. He manages to display an old, rumbling rage under surface, and he does all this barely moving a muscle. He is to evil understatement what Nic Cage is to shouty mega-acting. At the end of the film... it’s absolutely devastating.

 Excerpt International Business Times (title: 5 Films Destined For Post-Cannes Popularity), Cosmopolis was on the list:

Pattinson exudes confidence and a suave demeanor while exhibiting desolation and paranoia. His shockingly rich performance was one of the biggest surprises at the festival. His visceral delivery of DeLillo's astute language is jarring and even sexy.

Post-Cannes Appeal: Both Cronenberg and Pattinson have a legion of supporters that have been anticipating "Cosmopolis" for a year. Pattinson's work in the film has stunned critics who doubted his capabilities as an actor. The film is bound for cult status and the love it or hate in reception at Cannes assure that it's difficult to ignore.

Excerpt from Fangoria giving Cosmopolis 3 1/2 out of 4 skulls. LOL

After its premiere at this year’s Cannes film festival, critical response was mixed, but name me one Cronenberg picture that has not met similar reception. COSMOPOLIS is evidence of a director pouring his intellect and soul into a film that is even colder, more calculated, impenetrable and alien than any other genre film he has ever attempted before. It makes RABID look like and episode of YO GABBA GABBA. It makes the psychological miasma of SPIDER seem like THE BIG BANG THEORY, the sex car weirdness of CRASH play like SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT. It’s a difficult film to like and it demands its audience to immerse itself into its insect-like intellect and quietly unfolding, aloof narrative. It most certainly is a difficult film, but for serious fans and scholars of the director’s unique and unwavering world view, it is both essential and immensely rewarding. In it, Pattinson (who is excellent in a difficult role) plays a dead eyed billionaire named Eric Packer, a finely tailored humanoid that is like capitalism itself made flesh.

Excerpt from San Francisco Chronicle. They only gave the film a rating of 2 1/2 (above average) out of 4 but had this to say about Rob:

Incredibly, Pattinson delivers the strongest performance. His blase expression works well, and he pulls off complicated limo scenes with Binoche and the doctor.

Excerpt from Pajiba:

Packer is a ghost of himself by the end — a change which Pattinson registers well, showing how his character’s steel is still there below his disorientation and deconstructed state. In a final, fascinating confrontation with Paul Giamatti — the schlub to Pattinson’s golden boy — Packer’s mistakes are revealed to him. It is a pretty grim finale, one which is unsparing in its look at modern society and the way we have denatured ourselves.

The film is as polished and great-looking as can be expected. Cronenberg responds well to his main actor, fitting him out in a suit that becomes a little wrecked by the end, and filming him in close-ups with harsh lighting. There are plenty of great shots — Pattinson in close-up, lit by the fluorescent white tracking light of a gun, for instance. The cinematography excellently captures the sense of modern alienation, showing the city in all of its strangeness and dehumanizing state. All of the sets are beautifully designed, from the interior of Pattinson’s limo to the grim cityscape in the last few scenes.
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Pattinson, who initially seems merely wooden, is rather good in his role and seems to understand what he’s saying well enough.

Excerpt from Cinemart who gave Cosmopolis 4 out of 5 stars:

Replacing Colin Farrell as Eric, Robert Pattinson could be said to have the made the sort of career move that brought Brad Pitt away from purely romantic lead territory such as Legends of the Fall and into more interesting territory with the likes of 12 Monkeys and Seven.

Pattinson has made a very conscious choice to direct his acting career away from the Twilight franchise and squarely in that of renowned directors and more complicated material. He pulls this off to great effect as the film leaves its leading man nowhere to hide in regards to his acting ability and screen presence. With unabashed sexual scenes, welding a handgun and one character confirming his actual real eye colour, this is Robert Pattinson’s acting manifesto and it builds on the promise he has shown with characters not given the same range as found in Eric Packer.