I'll tell you why so serious

Good concept, poorly executed.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Daivd Cronenberg's 'Maps to the Stars' tells the convergent stories of several different characters in Hollywood: at first it appears as if this is one of those films about discrete lives that form a fine web of faint touches, but in fact it turns out that (most) of the characters have serious history, and are coming back together after events that have driven them apart. This reveal is quite well-plotted; the problem is that the characters are all mostly nasty (or at the very least weird), and moreover are so in a uniquely Hollywood way - you can believe there are such people in and around the movie business, but they're simply not the sort of people that most of us meet in our everyday lives. This makes it quite hard to sympathise with them, even if we can see the reason for their meanness and oddness. Cronenberg's movies can be considered cold in general, and although the charge isn't always justified, I watched this one very much from the outside. One thing it isn't, in spite of its billing as such, is a comedy.

The title gives an impression of someone lost in somewhere and trying to find a way back home. I did not know what this film was about. I did not know who stars in it and when it released. But I decided to watch it at the last minute without checking out its synopsis and I ended up satisfied. Not fully pleased, but the refreshing story and its characters interested me.This is an unusual drama that takes place in a district where the Hollywood people are dominated. Our tale opens with a young woman arriving there and soon gets an opportunity to become a famous artist's personal assistant. The film also focuses others tales, so it is a multi layered story. But all of them are somewhere connected; particularly at the end. Revealing everyone's agenda behind their act is what brings the conclusion to the tale.Not neatly told story, yet different. I would say futuristic theme. I liked the performances. Robert Pattinson was not in a major role, but the other like Mia Wasikowska, Julianne Moore were good. Revolving around the bunch film celebrities means there's no real ones involved with the real names, just mentioned the names who were not in the film. Hard to predict the story, I was not sure until it revealed itself everything at the end. That part was a quite a shock, not I expected, but that's the real twist. Overall film was decent, slightly it missed to be a great. I feel it is worth a watch if you want something new in the story.6.5/10

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

This is a twisted and quite dark movie and though in one scene I had a visual effects qualm it is well-executed and has a good cast. Julianne Moore in particular stands out, in a less common sort of a role for her: a pathetic, vacuous megabitch. A worst-of-the-worst past her prime movie star, who has sex with her emotionally unstable assistant's new boyfriend to momentarily feel better about herself and because she can. It is great to see her get her just desserts though shortly thereafter when said assistant (Mia Wasikowska) loses it. This film is a worthwhile and unique, no holds barred look at Hollywood scumbags/idiots. Mr. Cronenberg unsurprisingly is relevant and continuing to make solid pictures, in this case another disturbing one--which I was pleased about (my favorite of his movies are either disturbing, violent, or both; this is both, though mainly the former). Julianne Moore's character, the Benjie character, and others are quite hateable/reprehensible. You feel bad for Wasikowska's, in the milieu despite her not being soulless. This is the kind of film that, by the bleak end--which follows upon a not much less bleak beginning and middle--will leave the viewer likely feeling icky and depressed, and a bit worse about human beings, especially L.A.-based actors and other celebrities. It certainly has its place. I didn't feel there was anything gratuitous about the script. Cronenberg fans and cinephiles should give it a watch--maybe just one, ever--(even if only for Moore's performance) if they don't mind a serious downer.