Another movie, another Ryan Gosling starring role. This time its George Clooney's (as in, he directed it, and had a role as well) political thriller, "Ides of March".
First off, I saw this film with my brother, Luke, and a post-doc who is working with my Dad for year, a guy named Charles. He is from Miami (well, he is Cameroonian, but he lives and works in Miami), so upstate New York is a huge step down. To compound the problem he is here by himself, his wife is still in school, so he has to eat out and see movies by himself, and otherwise stands alone in the battle against the doldrums of our area. He has never seen snow before either (not much in Cameroon or Miami, who knew?), so it is only going to get worse, very soon. In other words, the poor bastard is on suicide watch. I decided to give him respite, and invited him to go see a movie with us. It was down to either this film, or "Killer Elite", which I admittedly was more in the mood for, but Charles had seen that on his own, so we settled for "Ides".
"Political thriller" doesn't seem like a fitting description in the first half of the movie, it is pretty slow. I was worried my two companions would need to see someone get their head chopped off or a house blown up soon, or else would become bored. They seemed to hold in there though. I didn't really mind, the story intrigued me, and it did pick up in the second half, but even the slow parts weren't that bad. Gosling plays a the chief media handler/advisor to George Clooney, a former Democratic governor who is running for President. The story takes place in Ohio before that state's Democratic primary, which pits Clooney against one other candidate. Clooney really stacked the deck with this one, calling on Philip Seymour Hoffman (one of my favorites) to play his campaign manager, Marissa Tomei does a surprisingly good job (I have never been to impressed with her, don't send my any hate mail, please) as a ruthless reporter, Paul Giamatti (another good one) comes in as the rival candidate's campaign manager, and Jeffrey Wright plays the suspiciously-looks-like-Herman-Cain politician whose endorsement everyone wants.
But, before I digress into the acting, let me continue on with the story. I haven't seen many political movies in this vein, that is, candidates on the campaign trail, that sort of thing. I am afraid they would be too dull, but with the race for 2012 getting into gear, and the fact this one has got some good faces in it, I gave it a shot, and am glad that I did. I don't know if the story is very original, and it is even a little predictable and maybe somewhat cliched, but I still liked it. Again, don't look for any further plot details here, but the story does eventually pick up, I'm not sure if "thriller" is the word I would use still, but interesting certainly suffices. the New York Times review of this movie crucified it for, or at least the way I read it, not presenting anything new to the genre, and I guess I can see some sense in that, but the film is still well done, the story good enough, and the acting is solid. Its hard to go wrong with PSH or Giamatti, and both were very good in their roles. Gosling was pretty decent too, much more lines than in "Drive", but I like him here as well. Despite the extreme difference in the two roles, he fit pretty seamlessly into both, at least in my humble opinion. The kid has got talent, I say. The one I wasn't very convinced by this time around was actually Clooney. I think the guy looks too Presidential, a bit like Mitt Romney actually. So, I think he set himself with a cliched role. He doesn't really speak all that much, he let the others take the limelight, so he didn't really have much to set the world on fire with here. There is one scene where he has a private dialogue with Gosling where both do an impressive job, however. What was also pretty neat were the cameos Clooney got out of some of the movers-and-shakers in political news coverage: Chris Matthews, John King, Rachel Maddow, and Charlie Rose all appear in the movie. Nicely done George, nicely done.
Charles and Luke both liked the film, which I was pleased to see, and, unless you have a sloth-like thought process, you can tell I was pleased with it as well. Under normal circumstances I wouldn't splash the cash to see it in theaters though, there is no action or effects that warrant it, but I felt obligated to save Charles from the depths of solitude and soul-crushing despair. It wasn't a loss by any means though, I am a political-junkie, and "Ides" provided a nice fictional aside to all the commotion going on in the real world of politics at the moment.
Verdict: See it, but don't expect to be blown away or to be riveted. Look for a decent story and some good acting with this one, but again, I continue my rant against the over-priced theaters, and while there are worse ways of blowing cash than seeing "Ides" on the big screen, it really doesn't need to be. Grade: B
If you liked this movie you might also like: Mud-slinging, debates, political-scandals, speeches filled with platitudes, and hot interns (there is definitely one is this film, never seen the actress before though)
A little extra: Rick Perry, gotcha, you racist (Niggerhead Ranch? Did he really think that that WOULDN'T somehow come out?)
