Am not about to extol the virtues of, or immortalize the movie. This cow has been fed many times before, in magazines and newspapers across America and the World. I think the movie watching public should be prepared for a monumental disappointment at the Academy Awards if they expect it to win.
Let me start by saying, I think the performance of Giamatti (Duffy) and Hoffman (Zara) were outstanding. They met if only for a few moments at the beginning of the movie, yet their utmost respect and dislike for each other's methods was screaming at you throughout the screen time. It was their opposing ideology growing from the same root that bounced Gosling (Meyers) from one side to another before he learnt the ropes.
What can one say about Gosling? Half Nelson. Lars. Blue Valentine. All Good Things. 'Nuff said?
A young Steve Mcqueen, pardon the comparison.
Few will remember Paul Giamatti as the bell-hop who shares a cigarette with Julia Roberts in 'My Best Friend's Wedding' and most of you haven't seen 'Punch-Drunk Love' or if you did never knew who Seymour Hoffman was.
If anybody disappointed, I guess it was Marisa Tomei, (she was awful.) and Clooney himself, as an actor, as a director.
So why will the movie taper off from the list of Academy winners?
Two reasons.
Firstly, as we have seen with 'Good Night and Good Luck', Clooney is unafraid to choose controversy over caution when it comes to making movies. The McCarthy Era was the weakest time for not just LA but the whole of America. People were ready to turn in friends and family, colleagues and clergymen and mistrust ruled the New world. It was no different from the way jews were hounded up in Germany before the war. Still today, the likes of Elia Kazan, a legend in his own right who has directed Brando and James Dean is ignored by a majority of well known actors, Nolte and Ed Harris being the most noteworthy. Can we ever forget the two of them sitting down holding their hands close to their chest in a morbid moment of shame when Kazan went on stage to receive his Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Academy dislikes controversy. Wasn't surprised when 'Good Night' was bid the same in 2005.
With 'Ides' Clooney courts similar controversy. With America on the verge of occupying itself many times over, confidence in the presidency dwindling, politicians engaged in pissing contests as soon as someone mentions the primaries, the last nail the Academy needs on its coffin is a movie where the unscrupulous Politician wins in the end.
Secondly, Clooney as an actor is unparalleled today. He was the glue that held together Syrianna, provided the kick in Ocean's and stood at par with Tom Wilkinson in 'Michael Clayton'. Where was he? Where was the actor in Clooney? We saw shades of him in Governor Morris but he went into the background while Gosling, Giamatti and Hoffman, with little help from Evan Rachel Wood, stole the show.
An actor directing himself is a tough job. Eastwood seems to be the only one who has pulled it off with ease. Clooney missed a trick here by not giving his character more time to develop.
The fact that self serving political lobbyists make their way to the top and Presidents of the United States have hidden skeletons in their gubernatorial cupboard is an old story. The underdevelopment of Guv Morris' character and the reality shown here shall rob Clooney off his chance to hold Uncle Oscar.
Anyway, I stand to be corrected, to be surprised.
No comments:
Post a Comment