The Ides of March premiered at the Venice Film Festival to a mild reaction. European critics claimed the film was not surprising and a look at the obvious corruption in politics. A few weeks ago the movie opened in the United States to more positive reviews and the film's chances of Oscar nominations were reignited. Overall I agree more with the European critics that The Ides of March is a rather predictable and bland film.
The performances are strong by all actors in the film. Ryan Gosling gives another strong show in a year in which he shines in many films (Crazy Stupid Love, Drive). George Clooney, Marisa Tomei, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Evan Rachel Wood, and Paul Giamatti also all give worthwhile performances. Sadly, they are just strong and nothing more. None of them are great and none are perfect. The problem with the movie lies in its subject matter which in turn hurts the actors' ability to excel. Nothing in the movie becomes electrifying and nothing creates tense situations. Because of the lack of verbal conflict none of the roles of the actors become particularly noteworthy and their roles seem easy to have mastered. Conversations between characters all seem boring and rather insignificant. No tension is made during the movie and the audience feels like spectators to something that is rather insignificant and common.
This feeling of insignificance and predictability is not aided by Clooney's direction. His lack of style and pizazz made the film feel more bland and more of a chore. Notably he also shows his lack of knowledge in the American political system. Maybe it is not a lack of knowledge, but more of a innocence and ignorance. He overemphasizes corruption in some areas and then underemphasizes it in others. His innocence also creates a purity in his characters' political ideologies which do not exist in the American political system. Many times the progressive presidential candidate of the movie would use lines that a conservative American politician would. He also makes assumptions about the American political process, such as stating partisans would vote in the other party's primaries, which simply are unfounded or disproved.
The problem with The Ides of March is its inability to push the envelope. It doesn't go far enough. There are too few encounters between characters and the film lacks a dialgoue which could have created great scenes and electrified the film. Instead the movie wallows in a lack of adrenaline and tension.
The film's Oscar prospects still seem strong, but nothing for it is set in stone yet. The academy loves Clooney and he could get a supporting acting nod. Gosling could get an acting nomination as well. We will see if the movie holds up in the next few weeks, or if The Descendants, starring Clooney, will take all the air out of the room as the "Clooney" film of the year.
Grade: C+
No comments:
Post a Comment