The Ides of March

This is another in Clooney’s series of contributions pointing out the wrongs of contemporary politics. This time he takes the Michael Clayton route, which means perfectly slick suits with a high coefficient of immorality, visual austerity, and audience nausea from all the characters who pass through the film. [PS: Gosling reigns supreme, keep it up.] (2012-01-05)

An ultra-bitter probe into the inside of the machine in which reality is prepared. The fantastic Gosling, who, even without a single grimace, can contain the fascinating tension between idealism and pragmatism, an excellent script and a wonderfully escalated scathing ending. An overall balanced and anti-idealistic drama that is an excellent counterweight to Hollywood escapism, which dominates Oscar nominations. It is a pity that, especially in the beginning, fairly solid knowledge of the American electoral system is needed (which I do not have at all), so I was groping slightly in the first minutes. But I blame myself for that and not The Ides of March. [85%] (2012-01-23)

A conflict of careerism versus loyalty in an easy-to-follow script with precise direction, leading to magnificent acting performances. The Ides of March dispenses subplots and has fewer characters than we are accustomed to from similar films, but this allows the movie to place more focus on its characters. That it looks more like a great HBO opus rather than an ambitious cinema production is a failing only to the point that it’s enough to watch it at home (as opposed to the more visually stunning and atmospheric Michael Clayton, which was more enjoyable on the big screen). (2012-02-15)

Like The Candidate and Primary Colors, The Ides of March shows us what we won’t see on the television news and what we rarely read about in the newspapers. It gives us a look behind the scenes, allowing us to get to know the men and women whose precisely balanced statements such as “I’m nobody, I’m anybody” make other men and women seems so outwardly convincing and trustworthy. The demystification process does not end with the removal of decorations and the greater interest in the preparation than in the live performance (just as Moneyball shows the “programming” of baseball games instead of the games themselves). Based on the stage play  Farragut North, the screenplay uses rapid-fire verbal exchanges to depict politics as not very fair juggling of valuable information. Given the existing information overload, however, the winner is not the one who knows more, but the one who is better able to manipulate facts and use them to his or her own benefit. Trust, friendship and other key concepts in the hierarchy of values lose their meaning because it is clear that it is much easier to gain someone’s interest if you put a knife to their throat (even if only in the figurative sense). The Ides of March takes into account the roles of various advisors to an even greater extent than earlier election dramas and makes outwardly powerful governors and senators mere media constructs that are dependent and manipulable. The film perhaps goes too far in relying on the power of words – it is directed in a generally unconventional way and underappreciates the power of images, but thanks to the elite cast, I still enjoyed it immensely. The actors are excellent without exception and their well-balanced performances in accordance with the functioning of politics make it impossible to draw a clear line between the villains and the good guys. We find ourselves in a place beyond good and evil, in a world where everything is relative. This opaqueness and uncertainty about who to trust elicit a feeling of hopelessness by which, in my opinion, the film fulfilled its purpose and George Clooney did his civic duty. 80% (2012-01-23)

George Clooney has proven many times in his directing endeavors that he is no stranger to sophistication, and a political investigation literally seemed like a treat for him. And yet I'm disappointed, and I must admit that I'm quite taken aback that there was no sophistication this time around. I expected him to dig into the highest-ranking politicians, but for the second half to labor through transparent twists towards disillusionment and broken hearts is too certain a step. Allowing the viewer to see into the fastest verbal machine guns and then easing towards morality is little more than a minor betrayal. (2012-02-04)