George Clooney is turning out to be one very fine entertainer. He acts well and his direction of the material he chooses is just spot on. The guy surely tries to weave together interesting stories with a unique direction style. His method is laid back and he cares a damn about it. But it sure doesn't fail to entertain the audience. I still feel Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is his most accomplished work but this stands a close second. He is slowly becoming the next Clint Eastwood or Robert Redford of our times.
Ides of March is a political thriller set during the US Presidential elections. Now if you don't know anything about the election process in the US you would be clueless of the proceedings at the start. I was thoroughly confused but slowly everything started making sense and slowly I started enjoying it. With its dark take on the human nature and a satisfyingly twisty plot, makes it one of the most entertaining films ever made about the political process.
Political expediency and intrigue make for fascinating cinema. Fans of this type of cinema recall fondly one of the originals, "All The King's Men", later made into many versions, the last being one where the word 'King's' was replaced by 'President's'. In all the versions of this movie, the rookie campaign manager loses to a smart politician. What if he did not? What if nobody loses and nobody wins either. "The Ides of March" based on a play 'Farragut North' takes up this theme from 'All the King's Men" and explores it to its ruthless ends and means.
Stephen (Ryan Gosling) is the junior campaign manager for Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney) who's looking to win Ohio to guarantee him a presidential nomination. Stephen is an idealist who works for Mike because he thinks this is the man who can bring change the world needs.
Events unleash that threaten to run Mike down. As things get out of control, as power struggle and political expediency intensifies, Stephen finds himself in the middle of a scandal that he hadn't anticipated and couldn't control? Or can he?
"The Ides of March" is a coming-of-age film of a young idealist in the ruthless world of politics, of losing his virginity and innocence to the intrigue and violence of the political world. The focus is not on politics and the politicians, like in 'All the King's Men" but on the rookie and his reaction to things around him.
Clooney is an expert director with an immaculate sense of timing and subtlety. Standing on the backside of a large American flag, Stephen contemplates his idealism even as the US national anthem plays on. The camera could have cut off, or panned out. But it hauntingly lingers on, silently giving a glance into the mind of this idealist.
In another scene where an important character is to be fired, a man in the car calls him inside for a minute and for that entire minute the camera just focuses on the silent car as the man comes out and the job is done. In a normal scenario, the director would have jumped the minute. Clooney chooses to linger on thus heightening the tension of an important minute.
Many politically charged films, like Clooney's directorial venture "Good Night and Good Luck" or "Syriana" where he acted, attempt to expose political intrigue and thus present the truth. Here, political corruption is almost taken for granted, and it is the corruption of one idealistic individual that becomes the focus.
A stellar cast that includes Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giammati gives the film an extra character. Ryan Gosling's innocence works well for the film. After Drive, he yet again portrays what a fine actor he is turning out to be. Clooney is his usual self composed and confident of the proceedings and always in control of the scene.
The movie reminds us that there's a big bad world out there, and to survive you have to answer Fire with Fire. Although, not the right thing to do always, it is something you have to live, grow and adapt with. This dark and practical take makes the movie worth a watch.
Read the entire review at : http://devlifeintechnicolor.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/ides-of-march-a- dark-political-thriller/
Ides of March is a political thriller set during the US Presidential elections. Now if you don't know anything about the election process in the US you would be clueless of the proceedings at the start. I was thoroughly confused but slowly everything started making sense and slowly I started enjoying it. With its dark take on the human nature and a satisfyingly twisty plot, makes it one of the most entertaining films ever made about the political process.
Political expediency and intrigue make for fascinating cinema. Fans of this type of cinema recall fondly one of the originals, "All The King's Men", later made into many versions, the last being one where the word 'King's' was replaced by 'President's'. In all the versions of this movie, the rookie campaign manager loses to a smart politician. What if he did not? What if nobody loses and nobody wins either. "The Ides of March" based on a play 'Farragut North' takes up this theme from 'All the King's Men" and explores it to its ruthless ends and means.
Stephen (Ryan Gosling) is the junior campaign manager for Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney) who's looking to win Ohio to guarantee him a presidential nomination. Stephen is an idealist who works for Mike because he thinks this is the man who can bring change the world needs.
Events unleash that threaten to run Mike down. As things get out of control, as power struggle and political expediency intensifies, Stephen finds himself in the middle of a scandal that he hadn't anticipated and couldn't control? Or can he?
"The Ides of March" is a coming-of-age film of a young idealist in the ruthless world of politics, of losing his virginity and innocence to the intrigue and violence of the political world. The focus is not on politics and the politicians, like in 'All the King's Men" but on the rookie and his reaction to things around him.
Clooney is an expert director with an immaculate sense of timing and subtlety. Standing on the backside of a large American flag, Stephen contemplates his idealism even as the US national anthem plays on. The camera could have cut off, or panned out. But it hauntingly lingers on, silently giving a glance into the mind of this idealist.
In another scene where an important character is to be fired, a man in the car calls him inside for a minute and for that entire minute the camera just focuses on the silent car as the man comes out and the job is done. In a normal scenario, the director would have jumped the minute. Clooney chooses to linger on thus heightening the tension of an important minute.
Many politically charged films, like Clooney's directorial venture "Good Night and Good Luck" or "Syriana" where he acted, attempt to expose political intrigue and thus present the truth. Here, political corruption is almost taken for granted, and it is the corruption of one idealistic individual that becomes the focus.
A stellar cast that includes Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giammati gives the film an extra character. Ryan Gosling's innocence works well for the film. After Drive, he yet again portrays what a fine actor he is turning out to be. Clooney is his usual self composed and confident of the proceedings and always in control of the scene.
The movie reminds us that there's a big bad world out there, and to survive you have to answer Fire with Fire. Although, not the right thing to do always, it is something you have to live, grow and adapt with. This dark and practical take makes the movie worth a watch.
Read the entire review at : http://devlifeintechnicolor.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/ides-of-march-a- dark-political-thriller/