Film Review: The Ides Of March

It seems somewhat felicitous that there be a film about the race to find America's next presidential candidate, although following the current Republican primaries one might certainly be able to mash all the footage into a political drama. Scratch that, satire. But what if Hollywood could elect the next Commander and Chief? No doubt the forerunner would be that genial, pulchritudinous man named George Clooney. If Mr. Obama were found to be slacking in his presidential duties, then perhaps the director, co-writter, star and appointed liberal ambassador for Hollywood might make a fitting replacement.

Stephen Myers (Gosling) is a campaign manager with ethical boundaries. A man who believes that the system will ultimately allow only those with the most sincerest convictions to become President of the United States. As such he carries out his work on behalf Governor Mike Morris (Clooney), a charismatic Democrat vying for the White House, with utmost conviction. But when revelations involving campaign volunteer Molly (Wood) surface, coupled with the increasing skullduggery of rival campaign manager Tom Duffy (Giamatti), Myers is soon embroiled in a political dilemma which will test his moral fibre.

The Ides Of March of course refers to that famed Shakespearean play where Julius Caesar's imperial ambitions were succinctly snuffed out by a gaggle of conspirators, and it is a familiar story here. First, this is a reasonably sophisticated, solicitous, well-crafted political thriller with a cast of heavy-hitters which impressively pull everything together. Yet while the political intrigue created throughout the film is certainly clever, like any political drama it features the predictable tropes we have come to expect of the genre. That is to say ambitious with allusions of intellectual grandeur, yet ironically broadly similar in its themes of political backstabbing and shady characters.

Speaking of characters, Gosling's Myers is a strange one - kind of like an enigmatic plankton inhabiting a world of political sharks. While portrayed as a sagacious spin-doctor who knows the tricks of the trade and how to work the media, he still remains curiously naive to the dirty realities he faces everyday. What's even more incredulous is how it takes a typical human flaw in Morris' character to set off an over-the-top chain reaction involving feelings of personal betrayal. Most flabbergasting of all the revelations to Myers however is that, shock horror, politics is not all unicorns and rainbows. Given all the perfidious political manoeuvres witnessed up until this point, you begin to wonder how this supposedly politically savvy wonder kid has made it this far and indeed, if he's even mentally stable.

In essence The Ides Of March is a Faustian tale in the same ilk as The Ghost Writer, Wag The Dog or In The Loop. While a popular concept these days given people's disillusion with politics, this is still very much a well executed film. It is a smart (enough), slick, efficacious effort with some fine acting which makes this more than worth watching. However, while the cast is excellent, the substance is as deceitful as an MP's expenses claim. Just don't be surprised that despite the glitz and soundbites, it doesn't make good on all its election promises.

Film Review: Source Code

Captain Colter Stevens (Gyllenhaal) is a test subject of the 'source code' program, a scientific method which can project a subject's consciousness into the past (and another person's body) for a limited period of time. Stevens is tasked with finding out who blew up a commuter train, repeatedly having to live out the last 8-minutes of a passenger's life. Suspicions soon fester when it appears that his handler, Goodwin (Farmiga) and the program's director (Wright) appear not to be all that straightforward with him.

If you think Groundhog Day crossed with Quantum Leap you begin to get an idea of what Source Code is. It is an intelligently structured film which goes over the same eight-minutes repeatedly, each time advancing the plot a little further. It's a dismally beguiling affair as we watch Stevens form a stronger emotional connection with the woman sitting opposite him, Christina (Monoghan), all the while knowing the train's inescapable fait. But Source Code is more than just a tragic love story or a who-dunnit thriller. It is a film about one man's beef with the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics. Indeed, there's enough time travel paradoxes and moebius loop-defying nonsense to make your head spin in the same enjoyable manner that Inception fucked with your subconscious. While the sci-fi parts will work your grey matter, its shocking, unintended horror of an ending reverberates darkly and will raise all sorts of ethical and philosophical questions.

Gyllenhaal is excellent in displaying an immense versatility. From action hero bouncing around a train carriage to romantic softy as he falls for the pretty girl opposite, all the while coming to terms with his own sorrowful circumstances, he remains at home with all the film's many sub-genres. Jeffrey Wright's surreptitious program director adds a hint of melodrama, but it's really Farmiga's Goodwin and Monoghan's Christina who shine. While Goodwin's role appears nothing more than a plot set up, Farmiga's portrayal brings something more as she visibly attempts to prevent her emotions getting in the way of the mission. There is a real sense of a human being underneath the nonchalant persona her military uniform demands. Monoghan conversely emanates an aura one can only be drawn to. Indeed, with each eight-minute loop we gain more empathetic attachment to a woman on the verge of changing her life, making her fate all the more tragic and Gyllenhaal's fight to bend the laws of time that more ingratiating.

Source Code is the sort of film that requires multiple viewings for everything to set in place. It is ambiguous but pointedly so, particularly with its tentative quandary of an ending. What Source Code does brilliantly is to provide you with all the details without announcing them in a fanfare. It is this which, despite spilling into other genres, firmly sets Source Code in the realms of science fiction. It won't spoon-feed you messages like so many movies do. Rather, director Duncan Jones has buried them so deep that when you do discover them it feels accidental, almost as if uncovering something we're not supposed to. And that is the most rewarding thing about Source Code. Perhaps the most gripping eight-minutes you'll see all year.