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Showing posts with label Clooney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clooney. Show all posts

OSCAR ODDS for Major Categories -- UPDATED

12:16 PM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Updated Oscar odds confirm a complete snooze is in store for Sunday's Academy Awards as The Artist and director Michel Hazanavicius are heavy favorites to win Best Picture and Best Director, bringing a very French flavor -- and depressed ratings -- to ABC's telecast.  Oscar ratings rise and fall based on the suspense of the major races and especially when a movie is in contention that a mass audience has actually paid to see.  There is virtually no race in the Supporting Actor and Actress categories, although there might be some rooting interest in Best Actor (George Clooney vs Jean Dujardin) and Best Actress (Viola Davis vs Meryl Streep)

The Artist has moved from 1:6 odds in early February to 1:12 now, increasing its implied chances of winning from 72% to over 78%.  A similar trend is seen in the Best Director race (see the updated charts below by clicking "read more").




         ACADEMY AWARDS BETTING ODDS
            averages from easyodds.com


     BEST PICTURE       Feb 20    Feb 8        

     The Artist           1:12     1:6    Even more the favorite
     The Descendants     10:1      6:1    Fading
     Hugo                20:1     14:1    Fading
     The Help            20:1     18:1    Slightly less likely
     War Horse           40:1     26:1    Fading fast
     Midnight in Paris   78:1     55:1    Falling out fast
     Moneyball           80:1     56:1    Falling out fast
     Extremely Loud &    88:1     59:1    Falling out fast
      Incredibly Close  
     The Tree of Life    88:1     73:1    Falling out fast

     BEST DIRECTOR
     Michel Hazanavicius  1:9      1:6    Improving odds
     Martin Scorcese      5:1      4:1    Hanging in there
     Alexander Payne     20:1     13:1    Fading
     Terrence Malick     40:1     37:1    Fading 
     Woody Allen         44:1     35:1    Fading fast

 

The Artist is also showing some late momentum in Best Actor with Jean Dujardin improving from 6:4 odds (about a 33% chance of winning) to 7:10 (about 49%).  George Clooney (in color and with full sound) has faded from 1:2 (about a 55% chance of winning) to 11:10 (about 40%).  This is the only category in which all of the long-shot nominees have a better shot of winning (even Demian Bichir from the $1.8 million grossing A Better Life has gone from 57:1 to 42:1).  

In Best Actress, Viola Davis from The Help is slightly more of a favorite, moving from 5:6 (46% chance) to 4:6 (about 51%).  But don't count out Iron Lady Meryl Streep, who is certainly practicing and perfecting her shocked look (remember the Golden Globes?), holding fairly steady -- 1:1 (42% chance) in early February to 11:10 (40%) now.  The other three nominees in the category have fallen out of the running according to oddsmakers.

         ACADEMY AWARDS BETTING ODDS
            averages from easyodds.com


     BEST ACTOR         Feb 20    Feb 8                     
     Jean Dujardin        7:10     6:4    Moving up to #1 
     George Clooney      11:10     1:2    Moving down to #2

     Brad Pitt           18:1     25:1    Slightly improved
     Gary Oldman         22:1     29:1    Slightly improved
     Demian Bichir       42:1     57:1    Slightly improved

     BEST ACTRESS    
     Viola Davis          4:6      5:6    Improved odds
     Meryl Streep        11:10     1:1    Slightly worse
     Michelle Williams   19:1     14:1    Fading
     Glenn Close         62:1     40:1    Fading fast
     Rooney Mara         64:1     42:1    Fading fast

No significant changes in the Best Supporting Actor and Actress categories.  Congratulations, Mr. Plummer and Ms. Spencer.         

         ACADEMY AWARDS BETTING ODDS
            averages from easyodds.com


     SUPPORTING ACTOR   Feb 20    Feb 8                     

     Christopher Plummer  1:50     1:25   More of a certainty 
     Kenneth Branagh     16:1     18:1    Moving up to distant #2
     Max Von Sydow       20:1      9:1    Fading
     Nick Nolte          39:1     32:1    Fading 
     Jonah Hill          61:1     46:1    Fading fast


     SUPPORTING ACTRESS 
     Octavia Spencer      1:25     1:20   Slightly stronger 
     Berenice Bejo        9:1      9:1    Steady 
     Jessica Chastain    23:1     18:1    Fading
     Melissa McCarthy    44:1     32:1    Fading fast
     Janet McTeer        49:1     33:1    Fading fast

Midnight in Paris remains the one to beat for Best Original Screenplay, edging up from 2:5 (about 60% chance of winning) to 2:7 (66%)  The Artist is still lurking as the most likely to upset Woody Allen, now 5:2 (24% chance) although that is down from 2:1 (28%) earlier in the month.  In Adapted Screenplay, The Descendants has improved from 2:5 (61%) to 1:5 (71% chance).  It seems only Moneyball stands in its way (adapting the wonderful, detailed Michael Lewis book into a character-driven film was quite an achievement), but the odds are now 5:1 (14% chance) from 4:1 (17%) earlier in the month.         

         ACADEMY AWARDS BETTING ODDS
            averages from easyodds.com


     ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Feb 20    Feb 8 
     Midnight in Paris    2:7      2:5    Slightly improved odds 
     The Artist           5:2      2:1    Slightly worse chance 
     Bridesmaids         28:1     23:1    Up from #5 to #3
     A Separation        30:1     19:1    Fading fast
     Margin Call         36:1     19:1    Fading fast


     ADAPTED SCREENPLAY 
     The Descendants      1:5      2:5    Closing the sale 
     Moneyball            5:1      4:1    Relatively steady 
     Hugo                10:1      5:1    Fading
     Tinker Tailor       17:1     14:1    Fading
     Ides of March       38:1     22:1    Fading fast


On to Sunday.



###

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STATUETTE STAKES: The Oscar Race That Wasn't

5:55 PM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,




This year's Academy Awards have so far engendered the kind of enthusiasm and excitement usually associated with a suburban DMV office on a Tuesday afternoon.  People seem to be sullenly resigned to the inevitability of THE ARTIST's victory, even though it would be unlikely to get anything like a majority of the Academy's estimated 5000 votes--but with the Best Picture vote split 9 ways, it doesn't need to come anywhere near that (the winning movie could theoretically take the award with only around 556 votes).  In any case, no unified opposition has formed in favor of any particular competing film, and the same apathy exists in almost every other major category.  At this rate, we might as well be talking about presidential politics.  

Are the Oscars really doomed to be this dull?  (ABC certainly hopes not, or this could be the lowest-rated ceremony in history.)  Is there no possibility for any unexpected moments of shock or even mild surprise?  Let's take a look.



BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:  As Mitch Metcalf noted in his survey of Oscar wagering odds, this is one category where The Artist is at a disadvantage (odds of 2:1), probably because as a silent movie, its intertitles don't provide much in the way of sparkling dialogue.  There are many who would like to see Woody Allen get some recognition for his late-career renaissance with MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, and that's currently the 2:5 favorite.  The other nominees MARGIN CALL, A SEPARATION and BRIDESMAIDS are all likely of the "be happy you're nominated" variety, although lovers of longshots might want to consider a wager on Bridesmaids at 23:1--it's by far the biggest hit of the group, and somewhat trendy after its critics' awards.  CHOICE:  Margin Call.  PREDICTION:  Midnight In Paris.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:  No one particularly cares about this category this year, but it's one of the very few to be fairly wide open.  THE DESCENDANTS is the favorite at 2:5 because of its perceived stature in the Best Picture race, and because with its polished dialogue it feels "written," but strictly as a work of adaptation, MONEYBALL, at 4:1, probably deserves to win, and its script is by the all-star team of Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian.  There's also increasing sentiment pointing to HUGO at 5:1, another tough adaptation from a children's picture book.  TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY, which deserves its place, and THE IDES OF MARCH, which doesn't (it's actually weaker than its source material), are probably just along for the ride.  CHOICE AND PREDICTION:  Moneyball.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:  Here's where things get easy, and thus somewhat tedious.  Octavia Spencer is an overwhelming 1:20 favorite for THE HELP, and no other nominee seems to have a prayer of catching her.  Those who believe the Academy will utterly genuflect to The Artist may want to take a chance on 2d choice Berenice Bejo at 9:1, but 2011 It Girl Jessica Chastain will be back again to win in some future year, and Melissa McCarthy and Janet McTeer, with 2 of the year's most distinctive performances, will have to be content with their nomination certificates.  CHOICE:  Jessica Chastain.  PREDICTION:  Octavia Spencer.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:  Did the Academy bother to nominate anyone besides Christopher Plummer?  Oh, they did?  At 1:25, Plummer is the biggest favorite in any major category, and since unlike racehorses, actors can't be disqualified from a race for bumping another nominee or falling down and breaking their leg, he's pretty much unbeatable.  In another year, he and  Max Von Sydow (at 19:1) might have split the lovable old codger vote, but Plummer's accumulated industry goodwill just outweighs Von Sydow.'s  That leaves Kenneth Branagh (9:1) out of luck. Nick Nolte, while no longer young, isn't yet at the old codger stage of his career, and Jonah Hill is just in the promising newcomer stage of his.  CHOICE:  Max Von Sydow.  PREDICTION:  Christopher Plummer.

BEST ACTRESS:  There was a time when this looked like a real race between Meryl Streep and Viola Davis, but Davis has plunged ahead like Secretariat at the Belmont.  The current odds of 5:6 for Davis and 1:1 for Streep are misleadingly close, although one can never count out Harvey Weinstein and his none-too-subtle campaign bellowing the 29 years since Streep last won.  Michelle Williams might as well have gone lame down the stretch, Glenn Close picked the wrong year to seek a lifetime achievement award, and Rooney Mara is this category's Promising Newcomer.  CHOICE:  Michelle Williams.  PREDICTION:  Viola Davis.

BEST ACTOR:  The closest we're going to come to an exciting result this year.  George Clooney (1:2) is, well, George Clooney, as well-loved as anyone in Hollywood and with a solid stack of critics' awards to back him up this year.  Jean Dujardin (6:4) is the star of the probable Best Picture winner, and quite a charmer himself, plus he has the added degree of difficulty of performing silently (if there's one thing the Academy loves, it's degree of difficulty).  The fact that Dujardin shockingly won the SAG award means that either he has this sewn up, or that it was a reality check for Clooney's supporters, who realized they'd better get their votes in or risk blowing it.  Could Brad Pitt sneak in there at 18:1 for a universally-respected performance in a lower-profile film?  Probably not, but if this were a horserace, you'd want to include him on your exacta tickets.  Gary Oldman is a less likely sleeper at 22:1, especially because Tinker Tailor never really took off at the boxoffice.  Demian Bechir, while no newcomer, gets the Hey, We Just Noticed You slot.  CHOICE:  Brad Pitt.  PREDICTION:  George Clooney.

BEST DIRECTOR:  The smart money at 1:6 says that as Best Picture goes, so does Best Director, and that's probably right, clearing the way for Michel Hazanavicius to make his triumphant way to the podium.  If Martin Scorsese hadn't won just 6 years ago, this year would certainly be his, but he did, making his 4:1 odds probably overly optimistic.  Alexander Payne isn't the kind of showy director likely to win if his movie doesn't, so 13:1 sounds about right for him.  Terrence Malick, on the other hand, is both adored and disdained by passionate viewers on each side, and THE TREE OF LIFE wasn't enough of a hit to break him out of his art-house cell.  Those with some spare cash might want to consider Woody Allen, a huge longshot at 35:1 who's coming off the biggest hit of his career.  CHOICE:  Martin Scorsese.  PREDICTION:  Michel Hazanavicius.

BEST PICTURE:  Well, here we are.  Harvey Weinstein has, as is his wont, run an absolutely brilliant campaign for The Artist, successfully obscuring the fact that audiences in general haven't been taken by it, and playing up every conceivable voter-friendly angle.  (My favorites:  the ad emphasizing that Artist was the only Best Picture nominee to be shot in Los Angeles, and the screening hosted by producer Thomas Langmann strictly so Langmann could couple the film with The Two Of Us, the 1967 Best Foreign Film winner directed by Langmann's father Claude Berri, so that The Artist could magically be linked in voter minds with the older film's storyline of a Jewish boy rescued from the Nazis by an elderly gentile--Jews, children, the Holocaust and a lovable old codger, all in one neat package!)  The movie's 1:6 odds are well-earned.  Could anything beat it?  The 2d choice is The Descendants at 6:1, a movie that has gathered no head of steam whatsoever, and after that is the huge money-loser Hugo at 14:1 (remember, Scorsese had his victory lap 6 years ago).  Those looking for something, anything, to take the prize should probably concentrate on The Help at 18:1, the only genuine boxoffice hit of the nominees and winner of the SAG ensemble award (but the fact that the picture couldn't even get nominated for Best Director or Adapted Screenplay shows how tenuous its support probably is).  War Horse, a disappointment in every way, is somewhat puzzlingly next at 26:1.  Then the unlikely Midnight In Paris, Moneyball and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close follow at 55-59:1, and at the rear is the aesthete's dream, The Tree of Life at 73:1.  CHOICE:  Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.  PREDICTION (reluctantly):  The Artist.

Sigh.  Yawn.  We'll look in on the Oscar race again as we get closer to the big night... if we can find the energy.
 

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STATUETTE STAKES: The Ides of Golden Globes

12:31 PM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,



The Golden Globes are given out by 80 international journalists whose opinions, when they're not voting on these awards, are of no importance whatsoever to anyone on the planet other than their particular loved ones.  But the combination of a usually entertaining TV show (hosted again this year by Ricky Gervais) and enough years to have established a brand name has created a collective delusion that The Globes Matter, and therefore they do.  The full list of nominees is here, and let's talk a bit about the day's winners and losers--Movies first.

THE FAVORITES:  WINNERS - The Artist, The Descendants and The Help all reinforced their status as the films to beat in the Oscar race, stacking up the most nominations (6 for Artist, 5 for the other two).  Ditto Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Jean DuJardin for Actor,  and Meryl Streep, Michelle Williams and Viola Davis for Actress. 


EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE:  LOSER - Is it the 9/11 theme?  The very late start to industry and press screenings?  Not clear yet, but this seemingly sure-thing Oscar contender has been coming up dry everywhere so far.

WAR HORSE:  LOSER  Yes, even with a Picture nomination.  The snub of Spielberg for director, apart from being a reminder of the bad old days when Jaws and The Color Purple could receive Oscar nominations while Spielberg was excluded, strongly suggests that War Horse isn't in the top rank of nominees.

THE TREE OF LIFE:  LOSER - One might have thought that the international sensibility of the Globes would lend itself to Terence Malick's hugely ambitious, equal parts brilliant and pretentious epic.  But one would be wrong, as Tree couldn't manage a single nomination.

THE IDES OF MARCH:  WINNER - George Clooney's mixed-bag political drama had been largely ignored thus far, but the Globes went for it in a big way, with nominations for Picture, Director, Actor (Ryan Gosling) and Screenplay.  Which leads us to...

RYAN GOSLING:  WINNER - Nominated not just for Ides, but in the Comedy/Musical Actor category for Crazy Stupid Love.  But--

CRAZY STUPID LOVE:  LOSER - Despite some of the best reviews of any comedy this year, Gosling's was its only nomination.

MONEYBALL:  WINNER:  Was in danger of being relegated to the acting and script categories, but its Picture nomination puts it back in the big-boy conversation.  (Bennett Miller's absence from the Director nominees, though, means it may not have much chance to win.)

GLENN CLOSE:  WINNER - Nearly fell out of the Best Actress race entirely for a minute there, but although she's clearly a notch below the Streep-Williams-Davis trio of favorites, at least she's back in the running.

MELISSA MCCARTHY:  LOSER - She's been the darling of critics' groups, but didn't make the cut here.  It's worth noting that 8 of the 10 Supporting Actor/Actress nominees are from Dramas rather than Comedy/Musicals, the only exceptions being Berenice Bejo from The Artist and Kenneth Branagh from My Week With Marilyn, both so clearly classy they transcend mere "comedy."

ROONEY MARA:  WINNER - The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo hasn't been much in the mix so far, but Mara gets her foot in the door for an Oscar Actress nomination.  

MADONNA/THE PAPARAZZI:  WINNERS - The Globes have never been shy about nominating celebrities so they'll show up at the awards and get some attention, and if it takes giving 2 music/song nominations to the dreadful W.E. to get Madonna to the party... so be it. 

Coming Soon:  The TV Nominees

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STATUETTE STAKES: National Board of Review Has Its Day

1:05 PM | Labels: , , , , , , , , ,



The National Board of Review is an organization with a virtually unknown membership that exists in public consciousness for precisely one day per year, and this is their day:  the announcement of their film awards.  Their claim to fame, such as it was, came from being the first ones out of the awards gate--but this year the NY Film Critics Circle stole their thunder by revealing their picks 2 days ago.  So there's not much reason to give the NBR choices much credence in terms of the bigger race.  Having said all that, they've made some interesting and worthy choices that are very different from NYFCC's.  Below are the NBR selections and some thoughts:


Best Picture:  HUGO. 

Best Director:  Martin Scorsese, HUGO.  These awards are crucial to Hugo, which is attempting the difficult feat of coming into the market as a family entertainment and staying there as a critically acclaimed player in the Oscar game.  The film is adding theaters this weekend, and hopes to keep expanding through December.

Best Actor:  George Clooney, THE DESCENDANTS.  Certainly no surprise, but officially puts Clooney into the race. 

Best Actress:  Tilda Swinton, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN.  A great performance in a very difficult film that's only getting a 1-week Oscar qualifying run in a couple of theatres this month.  Swinton and the film desperately need some awards momentum to get any kind of audience for this picture.

Best Supporting Actor:  Christopher Plummer, BEGINNERS  As with Clooney, this is a pro-forma introduction of Plummer into the race.

Best Supporting Actress:  Shailene Woodley, THE DESCENDANTS  A definite help to Fox Searchlight's hope to get Woodley an Oscar nomination for this role.

Best Original Screenplay:  Will Reiser, 50/50  An unexpected but very welcome choice, as this is an excellent script that hasn't been getting much attention.

Best Adapted Screenplay:  Alexander Payne, Jim Rash & Nat Fason, THE DESCENDANTS  Certainly one of the frontrunners along with Moneyball.

Best Animated Film:  RANGO  NYFCC apparently didn't find any animated film this year worthy of an award, which was bizarre in a year that gave us this exceptional picture.

Best Foreign Language Film:  A SEPARATION  A groundswell beginning to develop?

Best Documentary:  PARADISE LOST 3:  PURGATORY.  On the official Oscar short-list for this category.

Best Debut Director:  J. C. Chandor, MARGIN CALL.  Some more well-earned attention for a very dark horse in the race.

Best Ensemble:  THE HELP  The other organization that gives this award is the critically important Screen Actors Guild (actors form the largest single group of Oscar voters), and DreamWorks/Disney will be beating this drum loudly.

Breakthrough Performances:  Felicity Jones, LIKE CRAZY; Rooney Mara, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO  Consider these "they're here too" runner-up awards for Best Actress  The Mara award is important because it's the first indication Dragon Tattoo (a very violent genre movie, despite its pedigree) and its star could be awards contenders.

"Spotlight" Award:  Michael Fassbender.  Another runner-up award.

The NBR also announces catch-all lists of the Best Films, Foreign-Language Films, Independent Films and Documentaries, so no one (well, hardly anyone) goes away empty-handed.  They are:

Best Film:  THE ARTIST, THE DESCENDANTS, DRIVE, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2, THE IDES OF MARCH, J. EDGAR, THE TREE OF LIFE, WAR HORSE

Best Independent Film:  50/50, ANOTHER EARTH, BEGINNERS, A BETTER LIFE, CEDAR RAPIDS, MARGIN CALL, SHAME, TAKE SHELTER, WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN

Best Foreign Language Film:  13 ASSASSINS, ELITE SQUAD 2:  THE ENEMY WITHIN, FOOTNOTE, LE HAVRE, POINT BLANK

Best Documentary:  BORN TO BE WILD, BUCK, GEORGE HARRISON:  LIVING IN THE MATERIAL WORLD, PROJECT NIM, SENNA

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THE BIJOU REVIEW "The Descendants"

1:10 PM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

 

THE DESCENDANTS:  Worth A Ticket - Flawed But Heartfelt

It's taken an unaccountable 7 years for Alexander Payne to follow up Sideways, the biggest hit of his career,  with THE DESCENDANTS, which will hit theatres in time for a serious awards season push in late November.  Sideways and Payne's earlier Election are two of the best films anyone's made in the past dozen years (and his other features Citizen Ruth and About Schmidt are hardly slouches either), setting the bar pretty high for his next film.  That may be why The Descendants, while pleasing and dramatically satisfying, feels a little bit soft.


The film, written by Payne with Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (they're better known as actors--Rash plays the mad Dean on Community), and based on a novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings, is set in Hawaii, where Matt King (George Clooney) is facing multiple crises.  Matt's wife has been horribly injured in a boating accident, and lies in a coma, with the decision of whether or not to end her life up to him.  Whatever he decides, he's now singlehandedly responsible for raising their two daughters:  the angry, rebellious Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) and her younger sister Scottie (Amara Miller).  Meanwhile, as one of the heirs to a huge tract of family land that is being sought for development, he also has to cast a critical vote as to whether to sell his family's legacy or pass up a huge amount of money.

And his travails are just beginning:  he learns (this is revealed in the film's trailer, so no spoiler alert) that his wife had been having a serious affair at the time of her accident, further complicating his feelings about her and his family.  Then there's Alexandra's moronic boyfriend, who she insists accompany them everywhere...

All of this provides plenty of rich material for Payne and his co-writers, and the film moves smoothly between exasperated comedy and strong drama.  As you'd expect with its Hawaiian setting, The Descendants looks wonderful too.  Phedon Papamichael provides lush, gorgeous photography, the settings and landscapes could be provided by the Hawaii Tourist Bureau, and there's good use of native music on the soundtrack.  The acting is of a very high standard--apart from those named above, Judy Greer (especially) and Matthew Lillard are very fine as key figures in what turns out to be Matt's wife's secret life, Robert Forster is priceless as his father-in-law, and Beau Bridges plays one of Matt's cousins and a co-heir of the land.

And yet somehow The Descendants doesn't quite have the impact of Payne's best films.  It's a little too accomplished for its own good, typified by Clooney's presence in the starring role.  Here's a wildly inconsistent statement:  Clooney gives a wonderful performance, one of his best, and it's easy to imagine him as a strong contender for the Best Actor Oscar, yet he's fundamentally wrong for the role.  Unlike Paul Giamatti in Sideways or Matthew Broderick in Election, Clooney is so un-average, so inherently glamorous, that the idea of Matt as an ordinary guy never fits--you have to keep reminding yourself that Matt is in trouble, and he won't be able to just glide over his problems.  (Imagine Giamatti playing Matt--his recent role in Win Win wasn't all that different a character--and you have a completely different movie, just as Win Win would have been with Clooney in the lead.) This lowers the emotional stakes, and makes the movie lighter and more escapist than it seems intended to be. 

There are other flaws--Alexandra's boyfriend Sid (Nick Krause) is a cartoon until the writers decide to unconvincingly give him depth late in the game, there's never any doubt what Matt is ultimately going to do with his family land--and the overall effect is of an entertaining picture that doesn't go quite deep enough.

The Descendants is very enjoyable, and it could well supplant Sideways' $71M as Payne's biggest hit; no doubt it will be on the short list of Oscar candidates.  There's certainly nothing wrong with that.  But it's probably the first movie Alexander Payne has made that could be called "comfortable," and it's a little bit disappointing to see him settle for pleasing the crowd.

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THE BIJOU REVIEW: "The Ides of March"

9:53 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,





THE IDES OF MARCH:  Watch It At Home - An Excellent Play Becomes a Merely Good Movie

The Ides of March, one of the most eagerly awaited of this year's festival crop, is more entertaining than it is good. Oddly both low-key and melodramatic, claptrap and high-minded drama, it represents a series of curious choices by director/co-screenwriter/co-star George Clooney. 


The film is based on a crackling good play called Farragut North by Beau Willimon, but although Willimon is one of the credited screenwriters, the script makes broad changes in both the story and tone of the play. Both concern Stephen Myers (Ryan Gosling), a rising star in the campaign team of Mike Morris (Clooney), a Governor running for the Democratic presidential nomination. Stephen works for campaign manager Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman), but on a fateful day when Tom is out of town, he takes a call from the opposition's campaign manager Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti), an act that sets quite a few lives in turmoil.
In the play, the aftereffects of the opposition's call was the main storyline, and Stephen was an overtly ambitious, even arrogant young man. The Ides script introduces an entirely new story about intern Molly (Evan Rachel Wood) and her relationship with the campaign, which amps up the plot considerably. Stephen is also more idealistic at the start than he was in Farragut. The grafting of the new plotline onto the original results in tonal inconsistency and some plot fogginess. 

Clooney's direction is also uneven. The movie starts out too muted for its theatrical origins, all the actors underplaying. By the end, we're in full -on soap opera mode, with Phedon Papamichael's initially naturalistic photography reaching into Godfather territory. None of this is a favor to the extremely fine cast, which is hard-pressed to traverse Clooney's shift in tone. It also has the effect of turning the movie's final act into an exercise in familiar political cynicism. 

For all this, Ides of March is smart and compelling most of the time. The scenes that preserve Willimon's play still zing, and while the new plot is less convincing than the old, it's still fun. Oscar hopes may be more of a reach than the film's credentials had seemed to promise, but Ides is still worth a vote.

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

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