Review of The Congress (2013) by Dylan N — 09 Sep 2014

A smart, mindbender of a film.

It's a true testament about the industry of Hollywood, celebrities, how washed up an actor can become over time, forgotten, and replaced by advances in technological filmmaking.

Robin Wright Penn plays herself as someone who is down on her luck in the business; her career is on life-support, she has two kids to support and she is given an opportunity to sign on with some studio executives that will in a sense make her 'live forever'.

They scan her body and own her entire standard of living from looks to feelings to expressions to habits and so forth.

It's almost an impossible offer to refuse being that an actor or actress once forgotten can be stored in a computer chip for as long as possible but at a price for being owned and starring in any production no matter what genre.

The film then shifts to the future and people have the chance to cross over into a fantasy realm and become whomever they want.

It's a world filled with no conflict, no competition, no hate, and no restrictions.

Of course everything is far from perfect as Robin's digital self begins to reject the contract she signed and all she wants is to get her son back.

The film's narrative structure is pretty messy to say the least because it jumps around.

That's not to say that the acting from Penn isnt dynamite and the emotion isnt pure gold.

And it's obvious to see that the real world is far more valuable than what we can dream up and we don't realize it until everything has crumbled.

This film is a real-mind trip, quite a thinker, and it brought me back to 'Simone' with Al Pacino.

Some similar ideas but different approaches.

And it shows the power of the people in charge of the entertainment business; once someone signs that contract it's the ability of giving up that free choice giving them the power to alter someone's image, attitude, fame, success/failure.

This is a smart and visually splendid flick explaining why movies exist and why actors exist.