ON A MAN AND HOW HE BECOMES

DIRECTED BY GEORGE CLOONEY

STARRING: RYAN GOSLING, EVAN RACHEL WOOD, PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN, PAUL GIAMATTI, MARISA TOMEI, MAX MINGHELLA, GREGORY ITZIN, MICHAEL MANTELL with JEFFREY WRIGHT and GEORGE CLOONEY

George Clooney’s ‘the Ides of March’ is one of two movies in the Oscar race to present an insider story on a worldwide phenomenon. The other, of course, is ‘Margin Call’, a promising debut by J.C. Chandor which, I felt, fell short in the way it worked its acting set-pieces. Both are exaggerated versions of real-time events, the hike in drama demanding substantiation in performance. A good movie is one which leaves the viewer convinced. ‘Margin Call’, I found, didn’t quite make the sale. The acting powerhouse of ‘the Ides of March’, on the other hand, sent me home, satisfied. The latter faces the might of this year’s best in the ‘Adapted Screenplay’ category, while Chandor fights ‘A Separation’ in a comparatively easier pool for writing his own script. It’s a strong case of happenstance.

Ryan Gosling plays the believer in Stephen Meyers, a strategy consultant and a junior to Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman), testing the water in a sea of sharks. The two of them are chief and deputy in Governor Mike Morris’ (Clooney, infrequent) election campaign. Steve writes Mike’s speeches and advises on his policies; he contributes with literature, in short, while Paul is a sort of steer-wrestler bringing the Bulls into their game. Mike, on his part, chooses to listen to them. We’re given a backstage pass to a Democrat campaign without having to deliver coffee to get a place. It’s as simple as that.

Equally simple is the premise. It’s Ohio before North Carolina in the Primary. Senator Thompson (Jeffrey Wright, solid) is the prize to win. With him, the corresponding party gets 356 delegates rest-assured. The Republicans, headed by Senator Pullman (Michael Mantell) under the guidance of Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) take a conservative stand, going for nothing but the right wing. Or so they say. Paul meets Thompson in an encounter that seems to go well. At least that’s what he tells Ida Horowicz (Marisa Tomei, refreshingly brazen, off-hand and tired), a reporter for the Times working close with Gov. Morris’ campaign. Stephen believes in Paul as he works his charm alongside, winning Morris, his audience and the advances of 20-year old intern Molly Stearns (Evan Rachel Wood). This, obviously, is when things start to go wrong.

‘the Ides of March’ is a tragedy of errors. Two people make a mistake each, one impulsive with a misstep that hurts no one but himself, the other – a sillier and hence hefty mistake that could put the whole campaign in jeopardy. I presume I needn’t say who is who. It is also a tale of becoming, of David-turning-Goliath to match his strength, wisdom and its ugliness. It does not empower him with undying ability. It lays down before him guidelines of priorities and a protocol that would ultimately get him the job of his superior, working for a man whom he has to conquer to gain allegiance; whom he has to defeat to get to work for his victory. His ambition becomes an action plan with sacrifice incorporated into routine. And the end is but an end to an episode in the life of a man where we get to see what he has become.

The film derives its screenplay from ‘Farragut North’ by Beau Willimon, who had written the play from his own experience in the primary campaign of Governor Howard Dean in the 2004 Democratic Primary. It was premiered, I hear, as a lead-up the 2008 Presidential Election. Clooney, on his part, has made the movie a year before the 2012 Presidential run, the heat of election showing already.

Does this mean that this body of work, both in film and on stage, has anything to contribute to the actual political scenario? Is it an expose, in other words? Not entirely. The truth is that it doesn’t intend to be. It’s a tragedy that doesn’t get lost in a fortress of grandeur; which deliberates the impassive tone it takes to narrate itself made by a man who’s shown promise in this type of movie. After ‘Confessions of a Dangerous Mind’, ‘Leatherheads’ and the class of ‘Good Night and Good Luck’, Clooney crafts ‘the Ides of March’ to be his most-riveting, subtle and incisive performance of all as Director. He has a Clint Eastwood eye for detail, not compromising on technicalities, not dwelling on them either. The key is to communicate, to keep things simple and to keep them real. He does that with precision.

Should I even start on Ryan Gosling, the actor of this generation who’s tailor-made for about any role that he’s assigned to? He is Stephen Meyers – as charming, as vigorous, as angry and just as sad. He’s like Kevin Lomax (from ‘the Devil’s Advocate’) with a wound to show. Like James Clayton (Colin Farrell in ‘the Recruit’) pitted against a Walter Burke (Al Pacino) who knows to keep it shut. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti are convincing as veterans Paul and Tom, permanent sets in their own ideals. To Paul, it’s all about loyalty. Tom, who is oversaturated with a cynicism that has him working numbers for life, takes it as a battle of wit. They have nothing to do with the candidates whose victory, ironically to them, means everything. It’s a consultant ideal. These men, with their lives, school us against belief for the simple reason that it is absurd. They’re not opposite forces in a morality conflict. They’re tablets prescribed for guilt-free functioning, where to overdose means to ‘do better.’

Which brings me to a serious observation I made. In every tale of ruthlessness, a woman is sacrificed. It happened in ‘the Devil’s Advocate’ (the dream sequence). It happened even in ‘the Interview’, a play written by Siddharth Kumar and staged at the Metro Plus Theatre Fest 2011. It happens in ‘the Ides of March’ as well, with Molly Stearns taking the fall for the sake of two men who, literally, screw her over. I understand how dispensable she made herself to be. But it’s frightening, nevertheless. There has only been one Monica Lewinsky in as far as I know. The rest stay buried with the truth that died in an honour-killing move. Any word out is scandal, any scandal is potential threat where all such threats need to be taken care of. It’s mind-numbing.

‘the Ides of March’ is like ‘the Ghost Writer’ of this year. As exciting, as well-made. Better performed. Even if it might not package the champion storytelling of one like Polanski, it endears in the way it lets itself be carried entirely upon the shoulders of the ever-dependable Gosling, playing a stronger, more admirable scapegoat than Ewan McGregor. His Stephen fits our aspirations. We live as him. We take his fall. We come out on top in the end. And we know we haven’t won. It’s a comfortable sort of defeatism that has us grow fond of it, because sometimes you lose a hand to keep your reputation. Reputation is what people think of you, which in turn is what Ida tells them to. That, in short, is the lesson learned.

AN ALL-HEART EXPERIENCE

DIRECTED BY THOMAS McCARTHY

STARRING: ALEX SHAFFER, PAUL GIAMATTI, AMY RYAN, JEFFREY TAMBOR, BOBBY CANNAVALE with MELANIE LYNSKEY and BURT YOUNG

This is my first McCarthy experience of the three films he has made. I’ve watched bits and pieces of ‘the Visitor’ when they premiered it on Television. ‘the Station Agent’ has long been on my to-do list. Both are immensely acclaimed, the man himself deemed an up-and-coming writer-director of independent films which, again, do not stick to the usual norm. One of the reasons why I long contemplated writing this review right after ‘Dan in Real Life’ (directed by Peter Hedges), an immediate sample of a film that’s as entertaining as it’s full of heart. Well, I don’t think one can put ‘Win Win’ any better than that. Hence the hesitation.

The storyline of ‘Win Win’ is fairly convoluted, but pretty clear. Which means there are dimensions to it which, however, do not serve to complicate the premise. It’s one of those films which is so intricately detailed that it turns out to be quite simple and wholesome. Do you get what I’m saying? Life as it is has facets to it, only parts of which we come to confront on different days in different ways of living it. And yet, one can put it in a few words. Or in a paragraph.

Thomas McCarthy achieves that simplicity in his film, tying all ends together, welding his joints, making them secure so as to give the viewer a smooth, uninterrupted ride. There has been a lot of work, a lot of effort gone into this film which does not show on the surface. Everything that we see is undeniably a product of concise writing with utmost care. And the film, on its part, never ceases to be funny or smart – it might not always be tongue-in-cheek cocky, but it’s smart. It’s rich with moments but not in a face-saving sort of way. After watching ‘Win Win’ you might, you will go around recollecting sequences, possibly one particular sequence, a ‘turning point’ both figuratively and literally, but then you would have loved experiencing the film as a whole as well. Your joy would not have been curtailed to the lengths of scenes or lines, for the film in itself is utterly enjoyable. There is not a dull moment. There is not a vile moment in it. There is not a moment where you wish you had it a little differently. I had no second thoughts after watching ‘Win Win.’ It’s simple, whole-hearted joy.

Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti) is a small-time lawyer who’s married with two kids. He goes for a jog every morning, with or without the company of best buddy Terry Delfino (Bobby Cannavale, less annoying than usual), and he spends evenings as a local high-school wrestling coach assisting Coach Vigman (Jeffrey Tambor, delightfully subtle). He values physical fitness and there is an inherent love for the sport, which doesn’t let the viewer corrupt his intentions as purely being after the money in it. Mike would not coach the kids if he didn’t get paid for it, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love what he’s doing. He reminded me of my father, who never said no to the extra money, but the thirst to get the satisfaction of having impacted upon at least one person – well I have been so used to that thirst that I was simply overjoyed when I saw it on screen, what can I say.

But then there’s a flipside. Mike’s a lawyer, right? The proverbial one. He doesn’t mind where his money comes from as long as he gets a fair bit of it. Actually, it’s not as harsh as I made it sound, but I guess you get my point? Anyway, in this case, he eyes a $1500 a month commission on serving as the guardian of Leo (Burt Young), who’s at the onset of Dementia. The man requests to be let to stay at home, Mike capitalizes on that request, takes control and puts him in an old-age home instead. It might not be as sad as you think it is, but it’s sad. The place has TV, incredible furniture, 24 hour service. But it’s not home.

Sometimes you need to get a little topsy-turvy to straighten yourself out. Kyle Timmons (Alex Shaffer, a jaw-dropping find) serves as motivation for that sort of inertia bust. He’s Leo’s grandson who has run away from a ‘druggie’ mother and has come to live with his granddad. Jackie Flaherty (Amy Ryan, with a startlingly likeable performance), Mike’s wife, assumes responsibility here. Reproached in the beginning by the boy’s appearance and his habits, but humbled by his story and conduct in general, she takes him into their house. Kyle becomes a Son she never had, or something close. To Mike, it’s business with a hint of emotion. The boy is a prodigious wrestler, one of uncanny skill and mental strength with a touch of ‘cool’. To Mike, he’s the dream student. A protégé. Someone he’s always dreamed of. But then, he’s not his own. There’s the boy’s mother (Melanie Lynskey, tailor-made) and there’s a price that he has to pay; people he has to disappoint. Including and especially the boy himself.

Paul Giamatti in any film instantly takes me back to ‘Sideways’. Mike and Terry are no Jack and Miles, but it’s remarkable how effortless Giamatti is in playing the guy who likes a friend to look down upon. He is superior in his being, but in a humble sort of way. “Who’s crazy?” his little daughter asks. “Me”, he responds, a dull smile on his face. Alex Shaffer is Kyle Timmons. But he isn’t. Kyle barely strings two words together in his language of ‘yeah’s and ‘okay’s and ‘sure’s. And he’s rich with his outbursts, at getting out exactly what he wants to put out there. Shaffer himself admits to being too extroverted to play Kyle. But then, that’s exactly what Kyle is. He’s who you try to be when you don’t talk for a long time that you get used to not talking. He’s an extrovert’s shot at introversion. And with that and his wrestling skills, you find it’s all that you want.

Which brings me back to my previous assertion. There’s absolutely nothing that I wanted more. ‘Win Win’ was as fulfilling as a film that I badly wanted to watch. It not only lives up to your expectations, but it pushes on the borders to make the experience bigger and more nourishing than you can ever imagine it to be. It’s one of those films where the experience outdoes its content. Like the scene in ‘Once’ where the man at the studio is brought to work by the sheer inspiring force in the band’s music. Well, ‘Win Win’ is like a movie-equivalent. It sets you upright in your chair, jumping with child-like joy. It’s exhilarating. It truly is, Win Win.