By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: George Clooney
Starring: Evan Rachel Wood; Marisa Tomei | George Clooney | Jennifer Ehle | Paul Giamatti | Philip Seymour Hoffman | Ryan Gosling
Country: united_states
Year: 2011
Running time: 101
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1124035/
Thom says: “Governor Mike Morris (Clooney) is running hot & hard for his party’s Presidential candidacy and the latest crucial primary state is Ohio. His closest competitor is Senator Pullman. Morris’ hot-shot campaign manager Paul Zara (Hoffman in another spot-on performance) has lots of winning plans but begins to have trouble with the campaign’s fast-ascending, young and handsome, next-in-command Stephen Meyers (Gosling, once again, in high command, especially because he has the most ironic, difficult role). First off Meyers takes a meeting with Tom Duffy (Giamatti, always good) Pullman’s dour campaign manager, who offers him a job if he’ll switch allegiances. Next Meyers has a sexual tryst with campaign intern Molly (the always intimate Wood) but things go deep and dark when secrets are revealed. He informs Zara of Duffy’s offer and then his world
apparently starts to disintegrate. Jeffrey Wright is perfect as the conservative Senator Thompson who is being desperately wooed by both major candidate’s camps. Marisa Tomei is divine as a blowzy reporter Ida Horowicz who is always digging for dirt. Jennifer Ehle gets her role as Morris’ addled wife. The story takes several convincing twists and is brave enough not to endorse any of the rather self-serving characters. We’ve seen so many films paint a dark, negative portrait of American politics but this ranks among the best of the genre. Clooney has done himself proud. I had an uproarious time skimming through www.us.imdb.com comments especially when one reviewer called the film painfully slow seeing as I turned to my sister after the film ended and said, ‘That can’t be the ending the time went by too quickly.’ I could have watched another hour. 4 1/2 cats”