Maps to the Stars
* * * - Good
My thanks to the Filmspotting Podcast, who got me wanting to see this tonight. Sounded like an (unfortunately) fairly accurate portrait of the spoiled insecurity of Hollywood, and while some people may laugh at the exaggeration, I didn't see anything that was stretching the truth. What got me even more excited than Cronenberg was writer Bruce Wagner, who's blend of horror, comedy and Hollywood makes me think that as good as Cronenberg's work here is, he's really just substituting for David Lynch. That guy could've made this into a masterpiece, especially with the fragile, troubled, unbalanced female leads.
It's an ensemble of great performances, except for Evan Bird as the troubled child star. He doesn't know how to get his character off the page and sometimes he can't even get the dialogue out of his mouth without trouble. As good as the best performances are, Julianne Moore is still that much better. That's 2 Top 10 performances in a row, and that's after crap like Non-Stop and Carrie seemed to be signaling the end of her being challenged as an actress. The podcast correctly picked 2 career great moments in this film.
I don't know who hired the special effects company for a climactic scene towards the end of the film, but it is an Epic Fail. As bad as Nicholas Cage and the bees. Worse than the American Sniper baby. Just embarrassing.