Holy Moses
The Ides Of March
Sometimes the best political thrillers are the ones that strip away the politics for something else surprising and .. cinematic ! The George Clooney directed The Ides Of March is such an example except it never fully realizes what it sets out to do. The schizophrenic pace that Clooney conceives here left me thinking that the writer-director-actor did not really know what kind of movie he really wanted to make. It does have some well made suspense running thought its tightly nit 96 minute running time and excellent performances from a truly talented cast that includes the great Ryan Gosling, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti yet I felt like something was missing. Clooney, never one to shy away from political opinion, takes no prisoners in his account of how torridly corrupt the political process and its players are. Is this news? don't we already know all this? Only the most naive and gullible of people would find all of this surprising. Clooney hammers his message down our throats so much that he commits missteps along the way by devising plot twists that don't make the entire film's potential come through.
Political thrillers have a way to truly suck me into their stories, this one did that at times but not enough to truly call it a solid movie. Clooney has already shown us he's a good director with his Journalism school staple Good Night and Good Luck earning him a few Oscar noms in 2005. In this film he modifies the stylistic approach he brought to that film for a more 70's look. It's no surprise then that he's to have taken some of the classics of that period in time as influences when making this film. His intentions are in the right place yet the story isn't substantial enough to warrant an extraordinary reaction from critics and audiences. The Oscar hopes that were set for the film way back since its initial premiere at the Toronto Film Festival seem to have been pre-matured and not exactly in the right place. Don't get me wrong it's an intriguing project but it didn't live up to its potential.
Political thrillers have a way to truly suck me into their stories, this one did that at times but not enough to truly call it a solid movie. Clooney has already shown us he's a good director with his Journalism school staple Good Night and Good Luck earning him a few Oscar noms in 2005. In this film he modifies the stylistic approach he brought to that film for a more 70's look. It's no surprise then that he's to have taken some of the classics of that period in time as influences when making this film. His intentions are in the right place yet the story isn't substantial enough to warrant an extraordinary reaction from critics and audiences. The Oscar hopes that were set for the film way back since its initial premiere at the Toronto Film Festival seem to have been pre-matured and not exactly in the right place. Don't get me wrong it's an intriguing project but it didn't live up to its potential.
"Drive"
Nicholas Winding Regn is a mystery to many North American audiences, yet he's made a name for himself in Europe with his killer visuals and well thought out soundtracks. Well guess what, he roars into our neighbourhood with Drive - a B movie fetish film with not much dialogue, Pop Art images, gory violence and a lack for linear narrative. People are ready to castrate Drive for its obvious artsy ambitions and the way it doesn't succumb to Hollywood formula. Well, screw them. This is my kind of movie. Filled with sexiness, violence and a great cast. Ryan Gosling is so calm, cool and collective as "The Driver" that you'd think he's Steve Mcqueen. Hell, this movie is semi-inspired by all those great Steve Mcqueen flicks of the 70s except it's set in the 80s.
Dig the killer soundtrack inspired by 80's synth pop formula and the way it blends seamlessly with the haunting images Refn gives us. Case in point College's A Real Hero, which ends up being more than just background music for a film about a Travis Bickle-like anti-hero. "The Driver" is dead set to save Carey Mulligan's Irene from the misery she has in her life ala Travis Bickle but if Drive doesn't necessarily have the substance of that said Scorsese Masterpiece it does however have incredibly tense scenes to electrify our nerves. Check out the killer opening as our anti-hero tries to evade the cops in a silently done cat and mouse game or check out a botched heist that leads to dire consequences. Did I mention the elevator scene that everybody seems to be talking about? Or a violent strip club attack that makes our man look possessed? These are the 4 scenes that stuck with me but there are plenty more and they're all tightly edited to get us hooked on its cinematic juices.
Of course Drive is not a perfect movie but it has all the traits and reasons that had us watch movies in the first place. Or at least the majority of us. It's a violently artsy action picture that doesn't meander to a particular audience. It has a way of being unique and uncompromising in its visionary dreaming. It knows what it wants to be from the get go and goes along with it. Its 100 minutes zip by like a bursting fuel drag-racing at night & Gosling -along with an incredibly villainous Albert Brooks and a heartbreaking Bryan Cranston- brings a kind of coolness that lacks in most pictures these days. By the time The Driver puts on his stunt mask and makes all hell breaks loose in the film's over the top but scattering finale, it is clear that Drive is a movie that can haunt your dreams.
Mini Reviews (The Trip & Crazy Stupid Love)
People have been bitching how I've practically liked nothing this summer. Well, continue bitching. It's not my fault that we have to endure such miserable quality produce. If you want the good stuff you'll have to go to your local art house and watch Terrence Malick's masterful The Tree Of Life or Woody Allen's playful Midnight In Paris -more on that one next week-
Crazy Stupid Love (PG-13) ★★
Here's a movie that tries to be too much. You can't fault ambition this summer, it's a plus. Directors John Requa and Glenn Ficarra try to get to the bottom of love in a much different way than their underrated effort I Love You Philip Morris from last year. They overreach but get prime performances from Ryan Gosling and my current Hollywood love thorn Emma Stone. Steve Carrell and Juliann Moore also star in otherwise underdeveloped roles. The movie grabbed me in its first half only to pile on the cliches in its second. This to me is the worst feeling possible to have in a movie -one with promise that ultimately fails. Back to Stone. She's a natural Hollywood beauty with acting chops to boot. As Easy A showed us last year, she has mass potential and even if a movie such as this one doesn't fully show it, you know it's bound to happen with the right script.
The Trip (R) ★★★
A film export from the U.K starring the great Steve Coogan and British comedian Rob Brydon. Coogan is asked by The Observer to tour the country's finest restaurants, he sees it as the perfect romantic getaway for he and his beautiful American girlfriend. However, she backs out on him, he has no one to accompany him but his best friend Brydon. A competitiveness starts to build up between the two as they try to one up each in conversations involving impressions. all in the while trying to grasp each others company throughout the trip. It's a simple formula and it works. There aren't any special effects or overcooked plot lines. Just two actors, great food and a real sense of wonder at some of England's best locations. Definitely not for everybody's tastes but here's a real zesty, underrated treat.
Crazy Stupid Love (PG-13) ★★
Here's a movie that tries to be too much. You can't fault ambition this summer, it's a plus. Directors John Requa and Glenn Ficarra try to get to the bottom of love in a much different way than their underrated effort I Love You Philip Morris from last year. They overreach but get prime performances from Ryan Gosling and my current Hollywood love thorn Emma Stone. Steve Carrell and Juliann Moore also star in otherwise underdeveloped roles. The movie grabbed me in its first half only to pile on the cliches in its second. This to me is the worst feeling possible to have in a movie -one with promise that ultimately fails. Back to Stone. She's a natural Hollywood beauty with acting chops to boot. As Easy A showed us last year, she has mass potential and even if a movie such as this one doesn't fully show it, you know it's bound to happen with the right script.
The Trip (R) ★★★
A film export from the U.K starring the great Steve Coogan and British comedian Rob Brydon. Coogan is asked by The Observer to tour the country's finest restaurants, he sees it as the perfect romantic getaway for he and his beautiful American girlfriend. However, she backs out on him, he has no one to accompany him but his best friend Brydon. A competitiveness starts to build up between the two as they try to one up each in conversations involving impressions. all in the while trying to grasp each others company throughout the trip. It's a simple formula and it works. There aren't any special effects or overcooked plot lines. Just two actors, great food and a real sense of wonder at some of England's best locations. Definitely not for everybody's tastes but here's a real zesty, underrated treat.