For the
sake of not having to write the same intro a million
different ways throughout the rest of time, just know that
this column avoids the overly long and sometimes dull
process of full film reviews and instead opts to break
things down based on what I thought going in, what happened
while I was there and what I learned at the end of it all.
Thanks for reading!
The
Breakdown - The Ides Of March
The Impression:
An all-star cast lead by Ryan Gosling from an award winning
play under the sometimes brilliant eye of director George
Clooney? Do I need to say more?
The Reality:
Top 5 film for the year. Easily. Ryan Gosling continues his
staggering come-up as a true movie star. George Clooney
crafts a film that is brilliantly modern but pays homage to
it’s forebears of the Robert Redford-starring 70s thrillers.
The dialogue is crisp and clear and manages to wrangle humor
and pathos and true slime in to a brilliant analysis of both
the morals of our society and the morals of the individuals
who run it. The supporting cast stuns - Philip Seymour
Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei all acting at their
highest levels, and Gosling (to repeat myself) is the
shining star at the center of the film. No actor better
balances suave charm with crackling intensity like this kid
does and he brings both to bear in The Ides of March.
And the story? I don’t even want to get in to it. But if you
aren’t expunged from the theater with questions on your lips
and conversations burbling to get out, you may have been
watching the wrong movie. I could write pages about how much
I loved this film - the score, the cinematography, the
subtle humor, the savage spearing our of political system -
but you need to just get out there and see this film as soon
as possible.
The Lesson:
George Clooney, if this is indicative of what you can do as
a director, you’re going to go down as a legend in front and
behind the camera.
- Noah Sanders
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