October 24, 2011
I can't help but be mighty sceptical whenever actors dabble in writing. Bless them, their talent for crawling into another's skin is undeniable and admittedly those who work a lot in films often have an eye for directing, but writing takes a bit more and sometimes the Thesps can't quite pull it off. So deciding to write your own movie is one thing, but for goodness' sake don't be so pretentious as to give it a staunch literary reference as a title; you know, just in case it doen't live up to Shakesperean play it inevitably brings to mind. That said, I can understand what Clooney was trying to do with this film. A political thriller without Hollywood dramatics and explosions is a difficult thing to pull off, but he does it admirably. I was drawn in far more than I expected to be when I went to see this film and was certainly impressed by Ryan Gosling's protagonist.
Ryan plays Stephen Meyers, the second in command of a US Governor's (Clooney) media campaign, with Philip Seymour Hoffman as number one. To begin with, Meyers is the Golden Boy and is driven by a supposedly sincere, naive wish to promote a man he believes in to be the next President. Except, from the very beginning, you kind of get the impression that Meyers doesn't really like the man he's working for. Thus the inevitable events that lead him to question his loyalties aren't quite as unexpected as we're supposed to believe.
[Spoiler paragraph alert - Ed.]
Don't get me wrong, the plot is interesting, you care about the characters and Gosling in particular is superb, but there were just enough loose threads in the plot to make me skeptical. For example, I have trouble believing that a young girl in trouble, anxiously looking for an abortion after a one night stand, would choose to distract herself by indulging in casual sex with another relative stranger. In addition, the tense climax of the film occurs in the darkened after-hours kitchen of a bar (oh, please, did you really need this cliche?), beginning with Clooney appearing Godfather-like from the shadows, as intimidating as Benny Hill, and ending absurdly, with the audience having to believe that the Powers that Be were so threatened by the obvious bluff of a desperate mouse that they caved in dramatically. All of which serves only to provide us with a completely unbelievable denouement.
However, Gosling's fall from innocence is effectively conveyed, even if his apparent innocence in barely credible to begin with, and the tenuous plot lines are smoothed over effectively with some excellent acting from both Gosling and Seymour Hoffman. Sadly, Clooney comes across as more camp than charming or sinister, and I was more than a little disappointed by Paul Giamatti's role later in the film, where there is random gratuitous shouting that seems to appear from nowhere to convince us of his character's cynicism and bitterness.
In spite of this, there are some very exciting moments and Clooney's job as director impresses enough to perhaps forgive his slightly dubious, almost hammy, portrayal of the Governor. Some of the scenes were so beautifully shot that I would dare to believe the film might garner awards. One scene in particular has us watching a stationary car for an unfeasibly long time, with no faces visible and no obvious action. A bold, audacious move, but under the circumstances it serves to bring us teetering to the edge of our seats, wondering what on Earth is being said inside that we are not party to. It is moments of brilliance such as this that made this film so much more enjoyable than I anticipated, even if I wasn't left with the sense of betrayal and sadness at the loss of innocence of the idealist in Meyers that we were clearly meant to feel.
Ryan plays Stephen Meyers, the second in command of a US Governor's (Clooney) media campaign, with Philip Seymour Hoffman as number one. To begin with, Meyers is the Golden Boy and is driven by a supposedly sincere, naive wish to promote a man he believes in to be the next President. Except, from the very beginning, you kind of get the impression that Meyers doesn't really like the man he's working for. Thus the inevitable events that lead him to question his loyalties aren't quite as unexpected as we're supposed to believe.
[Spoiler paragraph alert - Ed.]
Don't get me wrong, the plot is interesting, you care about the characters and Gosling in particular is superb, but there were just enough loose threads in the plot to make me skeptical. For example, I have trouble believing that a young girl in trouble, anxiously looking for an abortion after a one night stand, would choose to distract herself by indulging in casual sex with another relative stranger. In addition, the tense climax of the film occurs in the darkened after-hours kitchen of a bar (oh, please, did you really need this cliche?), beginning with Clooney appearing Godfather-like from the shadows, as intimidating as Benny Hill, and ending absurdly, with the audience having to believe that the Powers that Be were so threatened by the obvious bluff of a desperate mouse that they caved in dramatically. All of which serves only to provide us with a completely unbelievable denouement.
However, Gosling's fall from innocence is effectively conveyed, even if his apparent innocence in barely credible to begin with, and the tenuous plot lines are smoothed over effectively with some excellent acting from both Gosling and Seymour Hoffman. Sadly, Clooney comes across as more camp than charming or sinister, and I was more than a little disappointed by Paul Giamatti's role later in the film, where there is random gratuitous shouting that seems to appear from nowhere to convince us of his character's cynicism and bitterness.
In spite of this, there are some very exciting moments and Clooney's job as director impresses enough to perhaps forgive his slightly dubious, almost hammy, portrayal of the Governor. Some of the scenes were so beautifully shot that I would dare to believe the film might garner awards. One scene in particular has us watching a stationary car for an unfeasibly long time, with no faces visible and no obvious action. A bold, audacious move, but under the circumstances it serves to bring us teetering to the edge of our seats, wondering what on Earth is being said inside that we are not party to. It is moments of brilliance such as this that made this film so much more enjoyable than I anticipated, even if I wasn't left with the sense of betrayal and sadness at the loss of innocence of the idealist in Meyers that we were clearly meant to feel.
