Film Review: "The Ides of March"

"I'm not going away."

It took far too long for me to finally get to seeing George Clooney's fourth directorial effort. It's difficult to believe that he's already had that many films under his belt as a director. And the fact of the matter is that he still has no real identity as a director. Between this, "Good Night and Good Luck", "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind", and the odd move of "Leatherheads", we can't really say what his style is. Even two films in, Ben Affleck has a known stylistic mind about him, as well as an integrity that keeps getting stronger. We've yet to see that from Clooney, but he seems to be getting there. It's a testimony to how much he knows the industry he's in that "The Ides of March" doesn't fall apart.

The film opens unassumingly, with Ryan Gosling heading up to a microphone and speaking things that would seemingly condemn him in a debate. It's not just that there's no context to it, but there's no real passion in it, because these words don't belong to him. They may have been written by him, but they belong to his employer, democratic presidential candidate Mike Morris, played with a practice sense of entitlement by Clooney. Gosling's Stephen Meyers is working on Morris' campaign under senior manager Paul Zara, played very much like Phillip Seymour Hoffman by Phillip Seymour Hoffman. This isn't so much about political goings-on as it is about tentative politics. Everything's up in the air, and anybody is expendable without a second thought.

VENICE: "The Ides of March" Reactions

I knew waking up this morning that I'd have to squeeze in a few reactions on "The Ides of March" before heading off to another class. I only got to a few, but the immediate feeling was that my gut-response to the trailer was right. Solid, but unabsorbing, political thriller that doesn't quite know what cynicism is. Then I sat down to my theater class, went for some breakfast, and two hours later I came back to the net to find the rest of the reviews. I had expected the brief bout of disappointment to drift away in later reviews, with the optimistic masses rising in acclaim of the film. Not the case.

I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, because most of these reviews are positive enough. There's a lot of *** and B's being passed out, but not insane adoration. It's funny, because I expected that it wouldn't live up to the hype, but I thought it would still be a Best Picture play. Has that ship already sailed? Not necessarily. It's always a good idea to wait to for the full release, but word from the premiere will be a hard enemy to overcome. Here are a few of the reviews fresh from Venice. If nothing else, the festival is finally underway!

David Gritten (The Telegraph; **** out of 5): "...Despite Clooney’s multi-tasking presence, Gosling takes the on-screen honours. There is a stillness and certainty about his acting, a commanding ability to convey complex emotions in the flicker of an eye. No surprise, then, that he is currently Hollywood’s most sought after young lead. If there’s one problem with 'The Ides of March', it’s that its ending feels too neat, ingenious and labyrinthine for the essentially realistic story that precedes it. Still, the film has laid down an early marker for this festival, and will do nothing to dent the two-way love affair between George Clooney and Venice."

For Your Anticipation: Control the Prosecution

James McAvoy is in a most interesting position in his career at present. The man is a terrific actor, as very few would deny, but he has not been given a role that really pushes him to the level of fame he deserves. The Conspirator will not be part of that rise, nor do I expect it to do especially well in terms of critical reception or rewards. It will be good, and good enough, but not much more than that. If McAvoy makes a breakthrough this year, it'll probably be in X-Men: First Class. It's still too soon to tell.