The Ides of March Review

George Clooney delivers a speech to the American Public in The Ides of March 

The Ides of March

A-

A review by Frederick Cholowski

Politics, one of the most convoluted and corrupted functions in all of modern society. Lying, cheating, and corrupting are all involved in the potentially nasty business. George Clooney’s 4th directorial effort The Ides of March examines, with great cynicism, the behind the scenes life of campaign managers. For the most part The Ides of March is a successful effort plagued by a flaw that prevents it from reaching greatness.

The Ides of March follows a young campaign manager Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) who is trying to make Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney) the next president of the United States. Surrounding Meyers is a colorful group of people such as his senior campaign manager Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the opposing campaign manager Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti). Meyers believes in Morris’s cause but his campaign soon starts to crumble after he meets briefly with Paul Zara and starts sleeping with an intern Molly Stearns (Evan Rachel Wood).

The Ides of March is a great film for the first hour and ten minutes. It’s an interesting and cynical case study about the inside of American politics. After that the film runs into some problems. It all of a sudden follows a weird subplot that involves Evan Rachel Wood’s character. A subplot which all of a sudden transforms the film into a B grade thriller. The whole subplot feels forced, rushed, and unnecessary and it keeps the film from reaching its full potential.

Acting wise this film has a ton of A-list talent. Gosling, Clooney, Hoffman, and Giamatti are all fantastic. Gosling gets the most time. Getting to watch his character go down to the jaded, cynical dark side is engaging. Gosling dose a great job at making the character arc believable. Clooney dose a very Clooney style role here. He’s calm and suave and has just as many flaws to him as he has likable qualities. Hoffman and Giamatti play rivals who are already jaded and cynical. They do a fine job as well and each help carry the film forward.

Technically The Ides of March oozes atmosphere. The tone is very dark and the shots are close and cramped. This gives the film a dynamic and stressful feel. One that tries to grip you at every one of its twists and turns. The score seems to try and emulate Trent Reznor’s score in last year’s The Social Network. For the most part it does a good job to keep the movie going.

The Ides of March is a really good political film that could have been great. The frustrating twist at the end somewhat spoils an overall dark and thrilling experience. This is a little sad because had it not been for that this film would have been a serious contender for film of the year. That being said The Ides of March is still a solid film that should definitely not be missed.

Moneyball Review

Brad Pitt looks serious about baseball in Moneyball

Moneyball
A-

A review by Frederick Cholowski

Sports movies love them or hate them they are probably always going to exist. Evan if most are predictable there are always the few who stand out from the pack. Moneyball is one of them as it manages to stay away from many of the clichés that usually haunt the genre. It also manages to deliver one of the most intriguing and insightful sports stories in a long time.

Moneyball follows Oakland A’s general manager Billy Bean (Brad Pitt) on a crusade to try and replace three of his biggest superstars after they were eaten up by other teams. Problem is that as Bean eloquently describes “There are rich teams and there are pore teams. Then there is fifty feet of crap and then there is us.” In other words they have very little money. Soon Billy finds his answer, a numbers crunching Yale graduate Peter Brand (Jonah Hill). Together they set out to make history by looking at baseball from a pure statistics point of view without considering things such as the personalities or integrity. He then has to convince old school coach Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and the rest of the world that his team full of misfits has an actual chance to do something.

The success of Moneyball is in the writing and pacing. This movie made me cheer for baseball a sport witch in my opinion is boring and mundane. It is also fueled by a script written by two of the best screenplay artists in the world Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian. While amazing Moneyball runes into some problems. While the managing parts of the film are insightful and fantastic the parts that involve Bean’s family feel a little clichéd and don’t work with the overall vibe of the film. It only really slows the film down and ruins the quick pace with parts of Bean’s life that I don’t end up caring about. Even with the pacing issues the film still held my interest even through the slower portions.

Acting is key here and it is solid on all fronts. Brad Pitt is convincing as the A’s general manager searching for a winning team. He has a certain charisma that lights up the screen every that he is present. This plus a solid emotional range give him the opportunity to be an early bet for an Oscar nod. Speaking of Oscar nods Jonah Hill is fantastically subtle as Peter Brand. He kind of channels a bit of Jessie Eisenberg’s performance in the Social Network (except not quite as socially awkward or destructive). He takes a tone downed approach and it works extremely well.

On the writing front it’s great to have such a great script here. The writing and dialogue carry through one finely crafted scene to another. In the management parts of the film Sorkin’s trademark fast talking witty dialogue shines especially during a great scene later on in the film involving risky trades. That scene alone made me almost completely forgive the clichéd family drama. On the tech side the film looks and sounds good with nothing really eye popping or special. All the actual baseball scenes while well done are nothing all that special. Even so if you can get me to care about baseball it’s a good thing.

Moneyball is a fun and smart fall film made better by a great script. It manages to avoid the potholes that many a sports film has fallen in before. While this is brought down by pacing issues and family drama Moneyball is still a step ahead of many of the films that have come out this year.