Sorry, this movie sucks

Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

This is Cronenberg at his finest form. Follow his deftly acted palette of characters down their kaleidescopic downward spiral in this self-reflective piece about the steep personal prices of Hollywood. Julianne Moore, John Cusack and Olivia Williams are all in peak form. Relative newcomer Mia Wasikowska delivers a delicately handled career-high performance. Robert Pattinson delivers another solid performance the likes of his efforts in Water for Elephants and The Rover. All round, a superbly poignant sort of dramatic social commentary, if, at that, a disturbing one.

OMG - I don't know why I rented this film, but I didn't like it. Directed by David Cronenberg, "Maps to the Stars" from 2014 is about the seamier side of Hollywood. Believe me, after you see this, you'll have no interest in any side of Hollywood.The story deals with several different people. Stafford Weiss (John Cusack) is psychotherapist to the stars. He and his wife (Olivia Williams) share several secrets. Their teenage son, Benjie (Evan Bird), is a big star, totally obnoxious, and a drug addict, who refers to his assistant as a "Jew faggot." Now, someone on IMDb thought this kid was not totally unlikable. I did. Benjie has a sister, Agatha, who has been gone from the family for 7 years, under mysterious circumstances, after she set fire to the house. She actually is back in LA, at first unbeknownst to them, with a lot of burns on her body, working as a personal assistant to Havana Segrand (Julianne Moore). Havana's mother was a big star who died in a fire, so apparently, Havana feels connected to Agatha. Havana is an over-the-hill actress who wants to play her mother's role in a remake of one of her movies. Someone else is cast, but when that woman's little boy drowns, Agatha is thrilled. Agatha believes her mother abused her, and is in therapy with Stafford Weiss.Robert Pattinson plays an actor who works as a chauffeur. He's also writing a screenplay.After dealing with the drugs, the insults, the descriptions of what actresses let producers do to them to get roles, the threesome, the incest, the visions of dead children, etc., I was ready to slit my wrists.I'm sure Cronenberg fans will find plenty to enjoy here. I was left wondering why I watched it.

I was sort of lost in David Cronenberg's "Maps to the Stars". It's not that I did not understand the movie, it's just that it was not mapped out as it should have. Cronenberg, who has done some wonderful innovative direction in the past, fills "Maps to the Stars" with prototypical Hollywood archetypes; such as the young tween star who is spoiled to riches, the dysfunctional Hollywood family whose past can't derail them to brighter pastures, and so and so on. I am not going to tour you too much of the plot of "Maps to the Stars" cause that would be an exercise of stupidity. Sorry David! Your movie did not give me the chills of your classics as "A History of Violence", this to me was more a "Hollywood History of Silence". Now, the movie was not a total disaster because of the great Julianne Moore. Her performance as the obsessive actress Havana Segrand was quite grand. But I can't say the same for the humdrum performances from John Cusack, Mia Wasikowska, Olivia Williams, and Robert Pattinson. David, you just should have, to quote Britney, "Gimme Moore". It's a shame because I originally thought that "Maps to the Stars" was going to be a tactical cinematic discovery, instead it played similar Hollywood strings we have heard & seen before in Hollywood archetype movies. So the only reason to find your way to "Maps to the Stars" is to witness Julianne Moore's electrical performance. *** Average

I went to see this on a whim when I was out in the city centre. I walked past a cinema and thought I'd go and see a film by myself. There was one other person in the cinema and they left as well. I'm surprised because it has a good cast and a promising concept (I love Hollywood- gone-bad stories) but it fell flat, ultimately. It was strange, and not in a good way, and left me feeling oddly nauseous and unsettled. It wasn't thought-provoking, it was just tragically terrible. Even the terrific Julianne More couldn't save this one-dimensional rubbish. The teenage boy celeb was depressing to watch, John Cusack looked swollen and rubbery and everything else is just ultimately forgettable and soul-crushing. I left after I realised it wasn't getting any better (two thirds through the film).