THE IDES OF MARCH (REVIEW)
Rated
M - 101 mins
Marisa Tomei, George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Evan Rachel Wood,
Paul Giamatti, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, Hayley Meyers
Scandal
in politics is nothing new and Hollywood has come to the party, so to speak, with
an array of brilliant crooked campaign classics such as 'Bob Roberts', 'All the
Presidents Men', 'Nashville' and 'Wag the Dog' just to name a few.
His
fourth film in the director's chair, George Clooney has an eye for the indifferent.
As an actor, he oozes a mixture of old school charm and smart good looks. A hotly
contested battle of two nominations within the democratic party to lead a Presidential
election emerges. The Governor of Pennsylvania Mike Morris (Clooney) is favoured
against a Senator with less social pizzazz. Already a professional manipulator,
Morris is guided by a political spin doctor (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, again at
his brilliant best) and a heralded young gun press secretary.
The
film, based on a play, is a look behind the curtain of back-stabbing candidates
beset by power hungry yes-men and disconcerting suits gleefully participating
in diplomatic shenanigans. A graceful Clooney is happy to leave the limelight
to his surrounding actors. Rather than focus on the would-be leaders of the free
world, the story revolves around the hot-shot media spokesman played by Ryan Gosling
(Drive, The Notebook). His challenges to those around him stand tall, he prods
good people to do bad things, he smiles like a passive aggressive villain would
without a spine. Gosling delivers a crash course in dirty politics that may just
earn him another Oscar nomination.
The only person who is aware
of his tactics, but does not let it be known is a sharp journalist from the New
York Times played by Marisa Tomei in rare form. There is even a plot strand concerning
a sexy intern Molly, who proves that temptations among the agitated men around
her may just flip the campaign in a storm of controversy. Governor Morris is married
and is reminded of that on more than one occasion. Witty one-liners covering everything
from the American economy to kissing babies for election happy snaps lighten the
often volatile finger pointing mood.
A splendid hand-picked
cast are all dominant in juicy dialogue driven roles that continue to shine throughout.
In her first ever film, young Hayley Meyers matches her elder counterparts in
dramatic stamina. Building momentum from the get-go, this is compelling cinema
shining a light on dodgy elections and their back alley dealings. Fact or fiction?
Shane
A. Bassett
