“Even if someone other than Twilight’s Robert Pattinson had played him, even without the unsettling, undead attitude that the young Briton did bring to the role, the protagonist in Cosmopolis would be called a blood-sucking capitalist.
That is exactly what makes this quintessentially American character so interesting, both in Don DeLillo’s dystopian novel and now in David Cronenberg’s film adaptation. The fictional Eric Packer represents the dynamic and mysterious tribe of real-life Wall Street entrepreneurs who have corrupted the system and robbed the rest of us blind through greed. This is a post-modern morality tale that now intersects with the economic crisis of 2008-09, even though DeLillo published his book five years earlier.
Greed is still good … or is it? Of course not. Eric Packer is an anti-hero, an outlaw, a parasite in the trappings of a peacock. Adopting a convincing American accent, Pattinson aces the role despite his panic attacks before the film starting shooting in Toronto. Super-rich, slickly dressed in gray, hiding behind sunglasses, happiest inside his white stretch limo in the streets of Manhattan, Packer is living the louche life of luxury and debauchery.”
Read the full review at Toronto Sun
Thinking of Rob 