I really liked this Cronenberg film. While his best movies for me are the amazing ones he made when I was a teenager in the 80s – 'Videodrome', 'The Dead Zone' and 'The Fly' are truly exceptional and unlike anything anyone else could have created – he’s been doing some very inventive things lately, even considering how consistently interesting his work has always been. It's only recently, with Sarah Polley and Denis Villeneuve becoming important directors, that his claim to being the greatest Canadian director ever has had any real competition. I recall when this film was released, and I’m pretty sure a 'Globe and Mail' critic interviewed Cronenberg at its Cannes premiere, and he seemed almost embarrassed about using Pattinson. It sounded like he didn’t want to have to direct him. He explained that he couldn’t get funding for his projects from North America anymore, which is such a shame, and had to go to Europe and Asia whenever he wanted to make a movie in order to secure financing. Apparently, the Japanese insisted on having a star to draw audiences, and said there would only be financial support if Cronenberg directed Pattinson. This was my first time seeing this actor’s work, and he did a perfectly acceptable job. The supporting cast was also very good, including many of my favorite character actors these days, like Paul Giamatti and Jay Baruchel. The script, which Cronenberg co-wrote, made a strong point about how out of touch the extremely wealthy are with the rest of us. I lowered my rating by 1/10 because I was upset that Cronenberg treated Juliette Binoche, one of the best actresses we have, poorly. I can’t even discuss it; it was as hard to accept as Spike Lee having Christopher Plummer say something terrible to Jodie Foster in the otherwise excellent 'Inside Man'. Lee won't be getting a Christmas card from me this year, but Cronenberg is Canadian too (I bet you thought I was going to say white, haha), so I’ll be less angry. But he better watch his back if he tries anything like that again; I was *that* close to removing him from my Christmas card list as well... I also remember, around the time the film came out, an article and review – I believe it was in 'The Globe and Mail' too, by the same critic who had previously interviewed Cronenberg – mentioning that he observed a group of teenage girls leaving the theater (likely because Pattinson was in it), declaring it to be the worst movie they’d ever seen. That’s all the proof you need that this is a worthwhile film, and well worth seeing.

Source on TMDB