The Ides of March

Photo credit: www.imdb.com

The Ides of March  When this film was in theater I was at Hawaii the first time. Wheeew. At those times I didn't care for neither George Clooney nor Ryan Gosling. I still don't care for the former (I know but the only time I even remotely liked the guy was in From Dusk Till Down) and the latter while still not really attractive to me, I think he is a better actor than I gave him credit for at that time. The film that changed my opinion is Fracture. Anyway this film turned out to be very good but Mr. Clooney made the mistake of shoving mise en scene into our eyes. Mise en scene is very important but it should be made subtly (Bong Jun Ho's Memories of Murder could be a master class in that regard) in my humble opinion. When the director's sense of his/her own competence flows out of the screen to me, then it becomes insincere, fake. Wong Kar Wai for example is wonderful at mise en scene but feelings flow out of his scenes and you are left breathless from emotion while watching. Not so with Mr. Clooney. I liked the story and the disillusionment of the protagonist. The cast is amazing and they are clearly enjoying themselves. I liked the film but it could have been so much better.