Film Review: Maps to the Stars (18) (Canada/U.S.A./Germany/France 2014) (Director: David Cronenberg), The Cameo Cinema Screen One, Edinburgh, Saturday 27.09.2014 19:30

Some reviewers have called this a satire, I don't know if I would quite agree with that, though do feel this is a biting fictionalised expose of 'Hollywood''s ways of being. 

Julianne Moore is great as the lead desperate-needy actress verging towards the end of her career. Olivia Williams & John Cusack play a cold-couple with a secret they must keep hidden below the surface, and an insufferable, just out of rehab, young brat child-star for a son. Mia Wasikowska plays the most complex character who weedles her way into the 'Hollywood' set, then becoming the assistant to Julianne Moore. Mia's secret's are hinted at on her scarred body, the rest I have to leave the film to reveal. 

There are some fantastic scenes, where all surface is very pleasant, though it is clear to see that the main characters being focused upon, hold nothing but venomous contempt for each other. There are some wonderfully off the leash scenes where the actors are portraying more extreme elements than they would usually dare allow themselves to, such as Julianne Moore on the crapper with trapped constipated wind leaking out. 

I don't feel there was any point to the film, beyond showing 'Hollywood' in not only a superficial light, though also in a way that shows it as being utterly-self-consumed, vacuous and bilious. Maybe not the most original of ideas, though this the most unvarnished I have seen a presentation of 'Hollywood'. I feel the film doesn't need a purpose or point beyond this.

It is quite a riot of a film, that also presents 'Hollywood' in a way that we can actually imagine it being. I found this to be a very enjoyable film, though it is hard to say exactly why. I also suspect it has more depth than able to pick-up upon on first viewing. It certainly sticks in my thoughts...

Rating: 09/10.