Jan Wahl Movie Review: 'The Ides Of March'
You can hear KCBS Entertainment Editor Jan Wahl's movie reviews on KCBS All News 740AM and 106.9FM Fridays at 8:53am & 4:53pm.
(KCBS) – Jan Wahl reviews "The Ides Of March", a political thriller starring Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Paul Giamatti, Jeffrey Wright, Max Minghella & Evan Rachel Wood.
THE IDES OF MARCH (R)
From "1776" to "Wag The Dog", movies about politics rock the house. This time it's the White House..as we go deep inside a Presidential primary for the Democratic nomination. Presidential Candidate, Governor Mike Morris, played by George Clooney, has two men leading his campaign... crusty political professional, Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and a rising ambitious politico, Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling.) Hoffman's counterpart in the other campaign is played by Paul Giamatti. When Hoffman and Giamatti are in the film, it is at its best.
Clooney directs and co-wrote the screenplay, performing his role with believability. Gosling continues his run as one of our best actors. The problem is not with the actors, dear friends, it is the movie itself. There's nothing new here. We get corruption, blackmail, questions about the price of loyalty..and of course, a pretty young, well connected intern as temptress. We walk away from this movie wuth cynicism for the system and a deep beleif nothing will change in the world of politics. Aside from fine acting, this is a cliched, sad movie and I'm one of the only ones to say this emperor..who has made good movies.. this time he wears no clothes and does us all a disservice. It will take you out of your everyday problems..so that is good..and it will drop you back into them more cynical than ever.
Watch On Video/DVD:
"Good Night And Good Luck"
See Now:
"Moneyball", "The Debt", "Dolphin Tale", Sarah's Key and "The Help"
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