Away From The Madness, Is Robert Pattinson's 'Cosmopolis' Any Good?

Over the past few weeks, you'd have been forgiven for assuming Robert Pattinson wasn't really a Hollywood actor at all: just a figure invented for the benefit of the tabloid press. However, away from the madness of the 'cheating scandal', Pattinson has a post-Twilight career to move forward with, and it begins with David Cronenberg's psychological drama 'Cosmopolis', based on the novel by Don DeLillo.

It's likely to perform strongly at the box-office given Pattinson's media presence over the last couple of weeks, but is it any good? Critics appear to be divided on the film, which follows finance 'golden boy' Eric Packer being chauffeured across midtown Manhattan to get a haircut at his father's old barbers. Manohla Dargis of the New York Times lauded the movie - though mainly focused her praise on the director - writing, "Mr. Cronenberg's direction throughout "Cosmopolis" is impeccable, both inside the limo and out". Peter Travers of Rolling Stone magazine was equally complimentary and even touched upon Pattinson's performance, musing, "If you can get past the psychological density of the source material and the tabloid noise around the star , this mesmerizing mind-bender ought to prove that Robert Pattinson really can act and director David Cronenberg never runs from a challenge". However, it's not all good for the pair, and Claudia Puig of USA Today slammed the movie, writing, "It's all vapid snark, didactic sermonizing and bewildering shock tactics". Elsewhere, Kyle Smith of the New York Post was left completely flat by 'Cosmopolis', saying, "David Cronenberg meets Don DeLillo at last, and it's as if all the angels of heaven have come together. And said nothing".

So overall, it looks like another solid offering from Pattinson - though there could be more to come. He recently signed on to join Guy Pearce in 'The Rover' - a near-future Western set in the Australian desert. Sounds interesting.