Et tu Clooney?

Ides of March @ Vintage Vista

The Movie 4 of 5 kernels

This political tale feels like a great episode of West Wing with an amazing cast and darker overtones.

The Pop 5 of 5 Kernels

Delicious buttery popcorn, diet coke, plus store bought M&M’s.

The film

            Ides of March named for the famous day that Julius Caesar’s political (and actual) life came to an end, when even his closest friend betrayed him due to his avarice. It’s a good title for a political film, maybe even a good title for this film, but the play’s original title Farragut North seems ultimately more apt for the message this film has about the political system. That’s what the movies about, its not even really about its characters, the characters themselves are simply devices (albeit well wrought, finely played devices) to illustrate the churn that is modern politics.

            The film takes place in Ohio right before it’s democratic primary. The quaint city of Cincinnati serves as back drop to the political operators and their back and forth games of cat and cat. Stephen is a top tier political consultant, he’s young, smart, dedicated and is a political animal. He’s idealistically backing up Morris (Clooney), the presidential candidate who oozes charm, and trustworthiness. Stephen thinks he’s the real deal. One day Stephen gets a phone call from the opposing candidates campaign head, who lays out why Stephen should come work for him and why Morris is going to lose. Stephen doesn’t tell his boss about the meeting. Meanwhile Stephen begins sleeping with one of the interns when he discovers that she slept with Morris, and not only that, she’s pregnant. Now the game is afoot Stephen has to navigate the murky political waters of his boss’s infidelity, a young girl’s pregnancy, and his superior’s lack of trust.

            The film is an adaptation of a play and to its credit it really does a good job of opening scenes up and using the very grounded and real backdrop of Cincinnati to make everything seem somehow realer. There are also some brilliant ellipses, dialogue or chunks of time that would’ve been depicted in most films are dropped or only eluded to in favor of getting to the meat of the movie. There are definite detriments to the adaptation process, the movie still feels a lot like a play, not in a bad way, just that if the script wasn’t realized with such solid directing and great performances it would’ve felt very stagey.

            The performances are the real thing to talk about, Clooney is every bit the politician his natural charisma and libido come across perfectly to play the less then perfect candidate. Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti are great as rival campaign heads, each one with their distinctive style, Giamatti a little more explosive, Hoffman a little more lethal. Then of course there’s Gosling who’s going through quite the renaissance, between this and Drive he’s got two smaller character driven films that he leads and is really the best part of. Finally there’s Evan Rachel Wood, to preface: I do not like her, the majority of the films she’s been in since Thirteen have shown a self involved actress who always seems to be pleading with the camera for the attention her parents never bestowed on her, (overly harsh?). However even she delivers a performance that doesn’t make me wish I were somewhere else. She is primarily used for the one thing she does very well, sexually enticing to older men. However when she goes through turmoil I was very on board for her journey. She was not acting with a capital A. It would be easy to say, that she finally has great costars to bounce off of, but this girl couldn’t even make her scenes with Mickey Rourke work. So I’m gonna say she was just waiting for the right director.

            George Clooney is so easy to love, it makes him easy to hate. He’s handsome, a damn fine actor, and he’s continued to prove that he’s a good producer and director. Only one of his films has been a real abortion, and that was his attempt at comedy. Steadily guiding these dramas though seems to be his calling. Ides doesn’t quite live up to his debut Good Night and Good Luck, but that has more to do with the strength of the earlier film then the merit of this one. This film is beautifully shot, masterfully composed, and is filled with the cinematic magic that is two actors at their best squaring off in scene after scene.

            Ultimately Ides of March is a very good film about the political system, and its very well made. All the praise I’ve laid on it is true, but it is hard to escape the feeling that West Wing has covered remarkably similar ground, albeit with less sinister pathos. This film is definitely worth your attention, but I wonder about its resonance. The allegory’s not that strong or fresh it’s just good. Sometimes that’s enough.

The Corn:

Vista’s usual goodness, piled with butter, and accompanied by diet coke, and a serving size of M&M’s.

I’ve begun buying bigger bags and taking smaller portions of M&M’s to the movies for both fiscal, but mostly, and dietary reasons. “Regular” M&M bags have two 150 calorie servings in them, so this is a nice easy way to cut my calorie load and guilt load during the movies.