DVD REVIEWS - The Ides of March

The pressure of trying to run a successful political campaign is undeniable. We can deduce this simply from watching the effort put in by candidates on their campaign trail, hopping from location to location, speaking and debating until you either accept defeat or you emerge victorious. To make matters worse, these politicians and their staff members constantly find themselves under attack by those who do not want to see them succeed. Faced with this adversity, the atmosphere of a campaign quickly turns into a BAMN situation. The only goal? Win, by any means necessary.

And that is the view that The Ides of March, presents to moviegoers. To win, to climb ahead, to do whatever it takes to come out on top. That certainly is the mantra of Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling), the press secretary for the Pennsylviania State Governor and presidential candidate Mike Morris (George Clooney). He believes in what Gov. Morris stands for as a candidate, but more importantly, he believes in himself. He doesn't look forward to one day seeing Gov. Morris in the White House, but instead basking in the reflected glory that would ultimately land him a job on Pennsylvania Ave.

Those that Meyers encounters during the Ohio Primary, including Morris' campaign manager Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman) as well as Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti), campaign manager for the rival Democratic candidate are all seasoned veterans. As such, they have a more realistic grasp of the political world. Zara believes that there is nothing more important than loyalty and Duffy shows a prowess to manipulate others for the benefit of his campaign. These men outwardly display the fatigue of countless political campaigns and demonstrate that they will do whatever they have to to ensure the success of their candidate.

The tension created by the primary leads the players looking for any form of release. For Meyers, it means having sexual encounters with a gorgeous young intern Molly Stearn (Evan Rachael Wood), leading her to confide in Meyers a secret that could bring his dreams crashing down around him. As the story presses on and Meyers faces wave after wave of adversity, his eager and idealistic mindset erodes to expose a dark, amoral core which is hellbent on his own success. Herein lies the most important question the film poses to its audience: is it possible for a politician to emerge victorious from a campaign without compromising their original ideals and beliefs?

The all-star cast, which also includes Marisa Tomei and Jeffrey Wright, displays that the strength of the film is in the acting, with Gosling leading the charge with another stunning performance. And while corruption, blackmailing, and extortion in the world of politics are by no means revolutionary viewpoints, The Ides of March still does a fantastic job portraying how the immense pressure of a political campaign can expose people for who they really are.

The Fighter

Audiences want nothing more than to identify with the protagonist of a film. But when Mickey Ward gets ignored by his mother, girlfriend, older half-brother, and seven-loudmouthed sisters, the viewer simply follows suit and does the same.

David O. Russell's The Fighter tells the true story of boxer Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg) who spends his entire career in the shadow of his older brother Dickie Eklund (Christian Bale), the proclaimed "pride of Lowell, Massachusetts." The height of Eklund's career came from a 10 round bout in which he knocked over Sugar Ray Leonard. However, Dickie fell hard and became addicted to crack to become the character in this story: a failed version of what Mickey hopes to become.

Mickey is subjected to a series of bad losses, thanks in part to the "management" of both his brother and mother (Melissa Leo), who see Mickey fighting as a way to supply cash for the family while Dickie bides his time for his supposed comeback. Then Mickey falls for a sexy and tough bartender by the name of Charlene (Amy Adams). This new girlfriend helps to be the voice of the audience, yelling at Mickey to shed the unneeded baggage that is brought on by his current entourage.

The story may be about the fighting career of Mickey Ward, but that certainly doesn't seem that Mickey is the one making the decisions. When he goes into an obviously mismatched bout, his family persuades him to follow through despite the inevitable defeat. When Mickey receives the opportunity to train in Las Vegas professionally, Charlene all but forces him to take the offer. Even when the film reaches the inevitable showdown of Girlfriend v. Family, Mickey simply says, "I'll go with both," because it pleases everybody. Mickey Ward allows himself to be pushed into decisions by those around him and because of that, it is hard to take him seriously.

The real shining light of the film is from the supporting cast, which is evident from the Oscar nominations received by this ensemble. Christian Bale, who has been bolstering his résumé with characters like Batman and John Conner, underwent the transformation of a career. His portrayal of the crack-addled Dickie was perfect and is Oscar-worthy. Both Leo and Adams locked in stellar performances as well, representing the two sides of Mickey's feelings and straining to help give a one-dimensional character a little more depth.

The fight scenes were filmed from the view of a spectator, ringside and at home on television. However, since it is Mickey's career that the film revolves around, the viewer will find it hard to become drawn into the fights since there is no emotional involvement with the fighter himself. Of course, there is the expectation of Mickey to win. But without the connection to the fighter that feeling of exaltation that should be there is replaced with nothing more than a banal ending to the movie.

The Book of Eli

When thinking of a post-apocalyptic world, images that are presented in John Hillcoat’s The Road come to mind: hopeless desolation in which one must struggle valiantly simply to survive. Such is not the case in The Hughes brothers’ blockbuster The Book Of Eli, which contains certain elements that are traditionally associated with films depicting the Wild West.

Denzel Washington plays a man who, thanks to the movie title and a K-Mart employee name badge seen later in the film, the audience knows as Eli. He is shown making his way west for some unknown destination. It is later revealed that in his possession is a book that contains great power and can be the salvation of humankind. Thanks to the tagline, “Religion is Power,” it is pretty obvious what book Eli is carrying. On his journey, Eli crosses paths Carnegie (Gary Oldman) who is scouring the barren landscape trying to find this particular book, because he believes that this book will allow him to expand his rule over what remains of the country.

The remainder of the plot can be predicted, mainly because the outline of this story in its entirety has been used time and time again. The hero and girl are holed up while the bad guys have “got the place surrounded.” Through some miraculous feat, the hero and girl escape with their lives and continue on their quest while the bad guys are shown that crime doesn’t pay. Overused? Yes. But that doesn’t take after from its cinematic value, which comes through in this film.

The Book of Eli is an extremely fun movie to watch, mainly due to the fact that Washington and Oldman are simply phenomenal actors who excel playing the protagonist and antagonist, respectfully. Adding to this is an exceptional performance by Mila Kunis who plays Solara: the damsel in distress turned hero. These casting selections seem to be window dressing, disguising several flaws that are ignored because they make the movie more entertaining.

Flaws in a movie do not always equate to a poor quality film. Looming plot holes, such as the mysterious source for the large cache of weapons and ammunition or why it has taken Eli 30 years to walk across the country, simply don’t matter because without them, the entertainment value is diminished significantly. The fact of the matter is that even though there is no explanation why there is a stash of military weapons hidden in a couch, the audience simply doesn’t care.

The Book of Eli, while not the greatest movies of the year, is well worth the price of admission. Denzel’s performance alone makes the movie enjoyable which, of course, is nothing new and the Hughes brothers throw in a huge twist at the end that will leave the viewer stunned. Above all else, the film breaks up the monotony of destruction and despair that has monopolized the post-apocalypse theme by simply injecting a tiny amount of adrenaline and excitement. Yes, it is flawed in its presentation, but because of the value that comes from these lapses, it is easy to argue that the film is flawed to perfection.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was a movie that, through its wonderfully beautiful storytelling, left me more than slightly confused. It tells the story of a man (Brad Pitt) who was born as an 80 year old and physically aged backwards. He has the unfortunate task of watching all those around him who resemble him physically whither and die while he does just the opposite. And while it was clear that the overall theme was to show that there are certain things that can simply transcend time and to live life to the fullest, I couldn't help but be overcome with an overwhelming sense of isolation and loneliness.

The short story, originally written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, was intended to be a comic farce. Instead, it was presented as a romantic fantasy, which was where the confusion started. As a 70-something old man, Button falls in love with a beautiful little girl, Daisy, who matches his age mentally. As time progress, Benjamin gets younger and Daisy gets older and, in doing so, their paths cross several times. It isn't until Daisy reaches adulthood (Cate Blanchett) that this love is acted upon. Being a hopeless romantic, I first viewed this as the high point of the entire movie. But during the lovemaking scene, I couldn't help but wonder if the two were thinking of each other as when they first met, as a young girl and an old man. The thought was a little unsettling, to say the least.

The longer The Curious Case of Benjamin Button went on, the more I started to realize that while trying to create a sense of timeless romance, the film gave me nothing but sadness. Every relationship that Button has is fleeting and futile, due to his circumstances. All around him, his loved ones are passing away and he is forced to watch not only this, but also see himself as seemingly exempt from this process. And it is this that makes the romance between Button and Daisy extremely hard to believe.

This movie will undoubtedly get Oscar attention. The film itself is well made and the acting, along with Tilda Swinton, Taraji P. Henson, and Elias Koteas, is simply superb and it wouldn't be surprising if Brad Pitt walked away with the best actor. But it was the storytelling that helped make this film. The screenplay shares the same author with Forrest Gump in Eric Roth and it is evident that he uses similar outlines. But even good storytelling couldn't mask the feeling of isolation that the movie left as it finished, making this a film that is incredibly easy to admire, but difficult to love. But maybe that's the way it's supposed to be.