George Clooney's newest film The Ides of March is anything but safe. This tale of a young Junior Campaign Manager, Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) who is working on winning his candidate, Mike Morris (George Clooney), the Demoicratic primary in Ohio to become the Democratic nominee in a modern-times election. With this battle comes private battles of their own. The angst between Meyers and Morris' Senior Campaign Manager Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to get things done. The pace quickly picks up as Meyer's secretly meets with the opposing candidates manager (Paul Giamatti) and becomes romantically involved with one of the interns working on the campaign (Evan Rachel Wood). There are twists and turns along the way, and the action only rises from there.
Clooney has a great sense of character (not uncommon coming from a director with an acting background). The manipulation of characters plays perfectly into the greedy twisty political interplay that everyone is basically akin to, but Clooney, along with screenwriters Grant Heslov and Beau Willmon do it in a way that maneuvers human emotion of the characters, a true strength of the film, and one that Moneyball REALLY wished it could have had. The performances were solid all around, even despite Gosling being a bit miscast in the role. Evan Rachel Wood is climbing a ladder of greatness, and her next few projects, whatever she decides those are, are going to take her to new levels; talk about a promising actress. It is no surprise that Clooney fits into the mold of his character extremely well, and the supporting cast (including a fabulous Marisa Tomei) are excellent.
The social context of the film is intriguingly displayed, with the plot revolving around an Obama-esque character, so soon to the start of his re-election campaign. It's a film about winning and what that costs to the person themselves. And it's handled pretty admirable. B+
Clooney has a great sense of character (not uncommon coming from a director with an acting background). The manipulation of characters plays perfectly into the greedy twisty political interplay that everyone is basically akin to, but Clooney, along with screenwriters Grant Heslov and Beau Willmon do it in a way that maneuvers human emotion of the characters, a true strength of the film, and one that Moneyball REALLY wished it could have had. The performances were solid all around, even despite Gosling being a bit miscast in the role. Evan Rachel Wood is climbing a ladder of greatness, and her next few projects, whatever she decides those are, are going to take her to new levels; talk about a promising actress. It is no surprise that Clooney fits into the mold of his character extremely well, and the supporting cast (including a fabulous Marisa Tomei) are excellent.
The social context of the film is intriguingly displayed, with the plot revolving around an Obama-esque character, so soon to the start of his re-election campaign. It's a film about winning and what that costs to the person themselves. And it's handled pretty admirable. B+