The Ides Of March

There are a lot of actors that try to make the transition into directing, but very few of them pull off being really good at both. George Clooney is one of those. When he finally broke out of "pretty boy" leading man status and developed "respected" leading man cred, he began to move into the directors chair, and hit it out of the park with his debut feature Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind. His newest, The Ides Of March, gathers some of the best talent in the industry and creates a hard look at politics in the wake of the wins and losses of the Obama administration.

Ryan Gosling is Stephen Meyers, a young and idealistic campaign manager for Clooney's Governor Mike Morris, who is running for president (notably under many of the same ideals as Obama, and even sports a knock off of the Shepard Fairey designed "Hope" poster). Meyers teammate, and boss, is Paul Zara (played by Philip Syemour Hoffman). The two are unshakeable in their belief that Morris is the man to lead America, but when a key element of support from another politician isn't forthcoming, Stephen takes up an offer to meet with the manager of the opponents campaign, Tom Duffy (played by Paul Giamatti), against his better judgement. This begins a string of events that could potentially ruin a lot of people's career's, including Stephen's, and derail Moriss' campaign.

Gosling brings his trademark intensity to the role, and Clooney uses it to great effect. In fact Clooney seems to play on all of the strengths of his actors, from Hoffman's quiet and serious nature, to Giamatti's ability to play good cop/sleazy cop, to Evan Rachel Wood's seductiveness, He has picked all of his actors with great consideration. While Ides can sometimes move at a snails pace, it never seems to bloated. The slowness just comes off as a necessary part of the story. Ides doesn't really bring much of anything new to the genre, either, but as a zeitgeist film, focusing on what it means to be an idealistic political candidate or part of the support staff for said candidate, and the reality of how dirty politics is, Ides is a fantastic watch, especially as candidates are already gearing up, heavily, for a race that will be incredibly heated (and possibly messy) in 2012.

Cyrus

The Duplass Brothers have been working steadily in independent film since they started shooting short films in the early 2000's. Their debut feature, The Puffy Chair, followed by their psuedo horror film Baghead were both highlights of the last couple of years. Their hard work has finally paid off and, with Cyrus, the Brothers move into the low budget studio territory, but still manage to keep the spirit that got them here in the first place.

John C. Reilly plays John, a guy who is looking for love as his ex-wife is about to get remarried. He meets Molly (Marisa Tomei) at a party that his ex-wife and fiance are throwing, and the two hit it off. Molly is very secretive, though, when it comes to talking about her life. When John follows Molly home, he finds out what she's been hiding - Her grown son, Cyrus (played by Jonah Hill), still leaves with her, in a sort of time capsule single mother/son relationship. They do everything together. They're best friends, and when John starts horning in on his mother's time, Cyrus becomes jealous, and when Cyrus becomes jealous, things get weird.

Cyrus is a humorous indy, and, maybe, the Duplass Brothers best film to date. Everyone brings in a great performance, including Jonah Hill (who I've never been a huge fan of). It's not the kind of film that has you rolling around on the ground laughing, but it definitely has its great moments, especially when things escalate between John and Cyrus. The Duplass Brothers have made something super solid and funny, and have shown what studio heads seemed to forget regularly - that a funny film, or any film, really, can be made for a reasonable amount of money.

The Wrestler

Darren Aronofsky is one of THOSE kind of filmmakers. You know the type - The filmmaker that only releases something every once in a while (whether out of necessity or preference), and when they do, you end up salivating over the very thought of it for months before it comes out, and when you do, finally, get to see it, it usually fulfills all the expectations you had for it. With The Wrestler, Aronofsky doesn't disappoint.

The Wrestler is the story of Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a one time WWF style super star, who fell out of fame, and out of money, and now subsists on working odd jobs, wrestling on the B-circuit, and the occasional convention, where he sells memorabilia and autographs. He is a man with an undying passion, a passion that he is so dedicated too, he lets all other things in his life go by the way side.  But, when the Ram starts facing undeniable health problems, he begins to realize that he may not have as much time ahead of him as he thought, and now, in his middle age, it may be time to right some of the wrongs of his life and leave wrestling behind.

Mickey Rourke does an amazing job as The Ram. You sense every ounce of pain and nostalgia for his previous life seeping out of Robinson because of the parallels between The Ram's story and Rourke's own. Marisa Tomei is electric as the aging stripper who decides to take a chance on letting this lonely, broken man into her life, and Evan Rachel Wood is undeniable as Ram's daughter, who was abandoned in her youth, and who Ram is trying to rebuild his relationship with.

Aronofsky is a character guy. He's one of the best there is. He brings these people to life so fully and so realistically, that you never once feel like one is there simply to push the plot along. I mean, let's face it, the plot of The Wrestler is not exactly anything new, but Aronofsky builds his film in such a meaningful and heartfelt way that it doesn't matter. You feel like your meeting these characters for the first time, and you are sucked into their world. The Wrestler is beautiful - In the way it's acted, in the way it's directed, in the way it's shot. In every way, it is a must see.