Whatever happened to Robin Wright (Penn), star of films like The Princess Bride, State of Grace and Forrest Gump?
You might well ask given that she still looks stunning at the age of 48, like a cross between Sharon Stone and the late Alexandra Bastedo in her pomp.
Putting aside recent low-profile performances in good films like Moneyball, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, State of Play and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, she never did become a Julia Roberts-style star who could ‘open’ a movie.
Wright is the very heart of this story, though, which opens with a brilliant premise.
Would Robin be happy (as herself in real life) to never work again – not even in a school play.
Once all aspects of her ability are captured, she could be recreated in any movie which producers want to make.
There would be no need to worry about “the terrible legitimisation of tasteless scripts” and she could be preserved in her early 30s.
The Congress asks some interesting questions about authenticity, star quality, motherhood and simple economics, all the while making capital out of Wright’s inability to always make good choices early in her career.
The Muppets tried to be this honest about sequels earlier this year and it’s a difficult trick to pull off.
Danny Huston plays the manipulative head of Miramount Studios, while the often menacing Harvey Keitel (Reservoir Dogs) looks to have been embalmed as her agent.
Having earlier seen another actress being recreated on a screen for real, The Congress loses direction when it becomes an animation.
Partly based on Solaris writer Stanislaw Lem’s 1971 novel The Futurological Congress, Israeli director Ari Folman (Waltz With Bashir) at least delivers a unique take on an industry that’s not always this keen to be so introspective.
