You'd think that my being a Canadian would automatically make me a David Cronenberg fan, but that hasn't really proven to be the case. In fact, with two or three notable exceptions, most of his work has always come off as undercooked and largely impenetrable to me. And this might be the single worst example yet.
For the first hour or so of its runtime, I was seriously wondering if Cosmopolis would land among my all-time least favourite movies. Absolutely nothing about it was working for me, from the empty and unnatural dialogue to the flavourless and interchangeable characters to the repellent visuals to the general sense of superiority that can be felt throughout. The whole thing exhausted me in record time, to the point where I was worried that I might not even make it to the finish line.
But then, in the last third or so, I found that the movie became, if not good, then at least somewhat watchable. Both the barber scene and especially the final confrontation managed to hold my attention and not irritate me too much (such is the unsung prowess of Paul Giamatti), enough so that I felt it ended this sour experience on a relative high note. I still think the movie's pointless and incoherent and far too pleased with itself, but I can now kinda sorta understand why it has a minor following.
Also, yes, that car is pretty cool - both in design and as a piece of symbolism.
Grade: C
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