Hollywood Psyche

Maps to the Stars

Hollywood can be a dangerous place for a kid…or so I am told. Growing up in the spotlight has not turned out very well for a lot of kids. Some have made it out of adolescence and into adulthood okay like Natalie Portman, Jodie Foster, and Drew Barrymore (sort of). But do we ‘normal’ people really know what it is like for celebrities? Focus World Pictures at least tries with last year’s Cannes Film Festival sensation, Maps to the Stars.

Maps to the Stars tells the intertwining stories of a couple different people. Coming straight off the bus from Florida, Agatha Weiss (Mia Wasikowska Alice in Wonderland) has landed in Hollywood with a purpose to make amends with her family. Agatha, knowing only Carrie Fisher (playing herself), quickly uses that connection to land a job as a personal assistant to Havana Segrand (Julianne Moore Still Alice). Havana is an aging actress, who is trying to land a very important role in an upcoming film remake. The role just happens to be the same role that her deceased mother was nominated for an Academy Award. Having trouble dealing with the large shadow that her mother has cast on Havana’s whole life, she frequently visits Dr. Stafford Weiss (John Cusack Say, Anything). Weiss is a famous TV psychologist that also happens to have a very famous 13 year old son, Benjie (Evan Bird Chained). Success has gone straight to Benjie’s head, whom seems to be dealing with some demons of his own.

Maps is a twisted, yet contemporary look at Hollywood and the effects it can have on some people. The film is enriched with great performances and awesome directing. I will say that this is not for the average movie watcher. The movie is a Freudian nightmare and can turn a lot of viewers away just by the pure strangeness of it. Though if you are an analytical film watcher or film student like me, than Maps is definitely one to pick apart.

Evan Bird’s Benjie is a total jerk. Bird projects every little thing that the general public probably fears from celebrities. His total disregard for people and his need to be ‘first’ is displayed wonderfully by Bird. Not only does Bird relay Benjie’s discontent with everyone, Bird is able to slide in some real tenderness to Benjie. Wasikowska plays the troubled Agatha brilliantly. Wasikowska does a masterful job giving the audience a sweet character on the outside, but a horrible disaster on the inside. Then of course there is Julianne Moore. Is there no limit to Moore’s talent? Moore is another holy mess in a film filled with messes. The reason Moore stands out among the rest however, is because she is able to turn the crazy off and on like a light switch. Moore shows the audience the pure damage her character has taken by the sheer weight of expectations she thinks she must live up to.

Director David Cronenberg (A History of Violence) does what he does best with Maps to the Stars. Like most of his earlier films, Cronenberg is able to get into the minds of his characters and extract everything they fear about themselves. Cronenberg achieves this mainly with the meticulous time he spends with each character. Though it may seem like no time at all, Cronenberg is able to use the camera in each particular scene to express the psyche of each character.

Like I have said, Maps to the Stars is a film student’s analytical dream come true. Similar to David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive, audiences can search for the deeper psychosis of each character, the metaphor that Hollywood represents, and the effects of what that metaphor places on the players of Hollywood. So if you are looking for a casual movie to watch that stars Julianne Moore, may I suggest something like The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1. However, I do suggest this film to everyone…not just the film nerds.

The Verdict: Worth Your Time