Living in good ol’ Toronto, TIFF is like Christmas to me. I worked at the festival this year and had so many films I planned on seeing, but I really only got to see two. I got to go to the premiere of 99 Homes, an excellent film but since that one doesn’t look like it’ll be released for quite some time, I’ll save that review. The other film I saw was Maps to the Stars, this one had been on my radar far before I knew it was on the TIFF lineup. I’m all about dark Hollywood satires, not sure why, maybe it came with reading a lot of Bret Easton Ellis growing up, either way, ghosts, damaged celebrities, Cronenberg, Moore and Cusack? I’m in.

The film follows a troubled family in Hollywood, all with their own ties to the film industry, dealing with ghosts from their pasts. I tried to keep my expectations pretty low and I’m happy I did, because while there’s some great scenes in this movie, it’s really inconsistent. I still liked this film because I think there are enough great moments here that it’s never a movie I can say I disliked. However, there’s a lot I had issues with this movie as well. Julianne Moore, is obviously the good, she makes her performances seem absolutely effortless. I think Moore might be the only actress that could have taken such a despicable character and still in a weird way almost had me rooting for her (don’t judge me) she’s fascinating to watch.

I really liked the character set up here and the story, while a little disjointed, I found interesting. However, I think the script failed in certain areas, not utilizing characters enough. One particular subplot deals with an already drug-addled thirteen year old child star, which had potential to go to really dark places but instead it went a very predictable route. This character might be my biggest problem with the film, I don’t think the actor they chose gave the haunting performance this could have been. Having such a young, jaded character should really be disturbing and here it just wasn’t, it seemed empty.

My biggest problem here is how the ghosts of the film were handled. The film really dives into the old cliché of characters talking to ghosts, but in this film it really does it without any style. The ghost scenes were really off-putting and a missed opportunity, they seemed to happen at random and just felt like lifetime movie moments.

It’s hard to recommend this movie, despite it’s flaws, I still liked it, it certainly kept me entertained throughout and it had some good jabs at the industry. It’s just disappointing because I think for the most part the performances were great here and this could have been a lot better of a film. Had the characters and storyline been fleshed out more and if the film had really gone for the darker tone and committed to the insanity of the story, I think this could have been a lot better of a film.

I am not a Cronenberg fan even though I have seen most of his movies.

Considering how abysmal I thought Cosmopolis was, I don't know if I should give this movie a shot, but I will.

I liked Eastern Promises but most of his movies aren't very good. Not even the few he is famous for. I never got his hype.

I'll check back in this thread in a few days.