The Ides of March

The Ides of March reminds me of the (very good) Robert Redford film The Candidate.  Where The Candidate focused on Robert Redford’s candidate for Senate, The Ides of March focuses on Ryan Gosling’s consultant to the presidential primary campaign of George Clooney.  Both films are about ambition and compromise, and both succeed.

The Ides of March, based upon a stage play, relies upon its performances to sell its dialogue-heavy running time.  This works, and it works thanks not only to the aforementioned Gosling and Clooney, but to pros like Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright, and Marisa Tomei.  Watching them perform, we feel like we have seats to an all-star production on Broadway.  Granted, it’s a production that feels earnest even while it tries to plumb the depths of self-interest and manipulation (Clooney, the Democratic Primary candidate, gets off all the Democratic talking points and zingers that left-leaning writers shout at their televisions during news conferences.), but I welcome earnestness when done well.

Does the plot twist and turn?  Yes, in ways both expected and surprising.  Do we feel for the characters?  Yes, though our loyalties shift.  When the credits roll, are we glad we spent 90 minutes with these people?  Yes, because they’re played by world-class actors speaking interesting dialogue in a story that, while not dazzling in its originality, benefits from being one well told.  I enjoyed The Ides of March.  If you like smart stories about interesting people, you probably will, too.

The Conspirator

The Conspirator tells the story of Mary Surratt (Robin Wright).  She owned the boarding house where the Lincoln Assassination conspirators met.  She didn’t do anything wrong.  She hanged for it.

That’s the hook, at least.  It really tells the story of Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy), an idealistic young attorney and Union war hero who takes her case.  Aiken’s a believer, you see, in the Constitution and due process.  He believes in the jury of one’s peers and the rule of law.  He can’t imagine America as a wounded, bloodthirsty nation, one out for revenge even at the cost of its soul.

That’s the text, at least.  The subtext is an exploration of hubris and vengeance and the injustices they wreak.

That’s the subtext, at least.  The context is an America ten years on from 9/11, an America that has recoiled from its own lashings out and now seems more interested in taking its own measure than sharpening new swords.

And of course it’s very well done.  Robert Redford knows how to direct a film and he can attract the best talent around.  But that subtext, at least in today’s context, feels a bit too on the nose.  We can tut at cynical old men, now long dead, and compare them to cynical old men who still haunt the studios of Fox News.  But this film can’t teach us anything about them because it focuses too closely on its text.  It assumes the rest and assumes that we’ll assume it, and it leaves those of us who refuse the easy answer on the outside.

So there I sat, admiring the film’s recreation of post Civil War Washington, admiring its performances, and enjoying the courtroom drama of a case whose outcome I already knew.  But I couldn’t shake the film’s simplicity of viewpoint and its almost too casual judgementalism.  The Conspirator will engage your imagination and it may break your heart, but it should light off at least one alarm bell in your brain.  It certainly did in mine.

The Wrestler

Darren Aronofsky doesn’t make bad movies.

PI, the feature that brought him to my attention, was odd and engaging and unforgettable. REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, his followup, ranks among the best movies I never want to see again. THE FOUNTAIN is one of only two DVDs I purchased that year.

THE WRESTLER, Aronofsky’s latest, does everything that movies are supposed to do. It introduces me to people and places that exist entirely outside of my experience and makes me care about them. Then it builds on that foundation to tell me a story that captures my imagination even as it breaks my heart.

In the film, Mickey Rourke plays “Ram” Robinson, a ‘roided out wrestling superstar who is well past his prime. Ram’s a decent guy, and he loves wrestling. But what do you do when the thing you love falls out of love with you?

This material could be an after school special or a DTV movie, but Aronofsky uses it to meditate on love and mortality and even honor, in a way. He evokes memorable and truthful performances, and his empathy for his people and their lives resonates with us well after the credits roll. In this director, we’re encountering a serious talent, a guy whose movies are worth seeking out. THE WRESTLER is a fine addition to his resume, and I recommend it without reservation.

The Upside of Anger

If I wanted to spend my time watching people drink too much and make uncomfortable scenes, I'd go home for Christmas.