Maps to the Stars

First Hit:  I’m sure I’ll be in the minority on this – and I liked this film. It was quirky, yet insightful in the David Cronenberg style.

Havana Segrand (Julianne Moore) is a fading from view movie star who is trying to get the part of her famous deceased movie star mother in an upcoming film. She really wants the part.

The film shows her desperation of want and her pretending to not be attached to getting the role. Agatha Weiss (Mia Wasikowska) is an intelligent, scarred and somewhat twisted girl. We see her abnormal behavior unfold as the film evolves. She becomes Havana's assistant and has an edge that keeps the audience on wondering. Dr. Stafford Weiss (John Cusack) is a Hollywood based spiritual and physical energy therapist to the stars.

His wife Christina (Olivia Williams) and he are driving their son Benjie (Evan Bird) to be an ego filled young actor. There is a controlling power in their house and when Agatha shows up again, all hell breaks loose. Keeping Agatha’s attention was limo driver Jerome Fontana (Robert Pattinson), until her real wish is known.

The fun part of this film is the moving from one type of ego expression to another and in Hollywood it all stands out strong.

Moore is great as the fading star who wants to stay in the limelight. Wasikowska is fantastic as the strangely possessed young woman. Cusack is perfect as the ego driven guru believing his own self-awareness. Williams is great as the mother/wife walking a tightrope. Bird as the ego possessed young man who is getting more than he deserves is very good – believable. Pattinson is really good as the limo driver who pretends non-interest and then interest in Agatha. Bruce Wagner wrote and interesting, complex screenplay that, for me, worked. Cronenberg definitely had his vision and although it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, for me it worked well.

Overall:  I found this film interesting and fun to watch these characters go through their ego struggles.

The Last Days on Mars

First Hit: This was a painfully poor film in all ways.

The film begins with people outside on a landscape that is supposed to be Mars but it could have been California, Utah, and Arizona or somewhere in the Middle East where the landscape is void of vegetation and it is both rocky and sandy.

The set up was extremely poor and when they finally tried to frame the story with shots from above the surface of the planet, it was too late. The premise that this group was on Mars was null and void from the very beginning. Briefly the rest of the story is that the group on the planet is just about ready to leave the surface and head back to earth, when at the last minute, they think they find some sort of life. In a snap decision two of the crew goes out and get sucked up by the organisms which make them zombies. They come for the rest of the crew.

Liev Schreiber as Vincent tried to make his character thoughtful and intense but it didn’t work. Romola Garai played Rebecca who was the one thoughtful character. Elias Koteas, Olivia Williams, Johnny Harris, Goran Kostic, Tom Cullen, and Yusra Warsama were all part of the crew that suffered both the script and direction of this poorly conceived film. Sydney J. Bounds and Clive Dawson wrote this lame script. Ruairi Robinson directed this and he’s got a long way to go to figure out how to tell a story worth telling.

Overall:  Nothing about it made sense and there is no way this should have found a screen.

The Ghost Writer

First Hit: A very good timely film with wonderfully constructed scenes.

Ewan McGregor plays "The Ghost"; the ghost writer who is selected to pick up where a recently deceased ghost writer left off.

The opening scene shows him interviewing for the job and it perfectly sets the tone for his skills and proclivities. The Ghost is brash, likes to drink, prone to pointed quips and intelligent. The project he is interviewing for is to complete the autobiography of Britain’s recent Prime Minister Adam Lang (played by Pierce Brosnan).

The manuscript is under lock and key and stored in a safe at a beach house Lang occupies while he is in the US. The beach house is modern, highly secured, has cement walls with modern art, and gas and rock fireplaces giving it the feel of a high priced bunker.

This setting prescribes that there is reason to worry about the contents of the manuscript. But after his first read of the manuscript The Ghost wonders what all the fuss is about. In fact he rolls his eyes after the first read of the manuscript.

Amelia, Lang's assistant, (played by Kim Cattrall) is the primary keeper of the key to the manuscript’s safe and is also a competitor for Lang’s romantic attention. Lang's wife Ruth (played by Olivia Williams) is a highly intelligent and Lang counts on her opinion for most of his decisions. 

As The Ghost starts work on his assignment, the World Court in The Hague starts investigative proceedings into war crimes against Lang and possibly his US White House counterpart (film suggests it George W. Bush). This complicates his work and slowly but surely he begins to become investigative about the death of his predecessor and the reason why Lang's information doesn't add up.

One of the things I liked about this film was that The Ghost doesn’t know all the answers ahead of time and there is a slow awakening towards the reasons why the previous Ghost died in addition to the how and why Lang got into politics.

McGregor is very strong in this role as The Ghost. He clearly isn’t an investigative reporter, but slowly he gets caught up in putting the pieces together and does a good job of portraying this inquisitive growth. Brosnan is very good as the smart but slightly out of touch former Prime Minister who has been manipulated and doesn’t know it. Williams and Cattrall were also very good as protagonists towards each other and supporters of Lang. Polanski clearly had a vision for this film and didn’t attempt to create suspense and drama with camera movement. He created it with simple well choreographed long shots which embedded the film with thoughtful forbearance.

Overall: Well executed and timely film about the political climate. However, I was distracted throughout the film by wondering if the film was really being shot in the US (Cape Cod area) with Polanski’s current legal trouble and noted during the credits, it was shot elsewhere.