The Ides Of March

George Clooney takes his seat in the director's chair once again following "Good Night and, Good Luck" and "Leatherheads" with this intense political drama/thriller about a presidential candidate and his campaign manager and what they go through to get to the top doing absolutely whatever it takes. Gosling is fantastic as he is always. He has proven himself especially this year that he is one of the best up and coming actors right now. He has come out with so many great films and has shown us some great acting performances and there is only more to come from him. In this year alone he has been the leading man in "The Ides of March," "Crazy, Stupid, Love.," and my favorite of the entire year so far "Drive." He is such a fantastic actor and has such a wide range of acting capabilities. I just cannot wait to see more and more films with him in it. Some other notable Gosling films to check out would be "Half Nelson," "Blue Valentine," and his career starter "The Notebook." Clooney is also good in this film giving an always promising performance but he is more noticeable behind the camera then he is in front. Clooney knows how to taske this political drama that could get slow and boring and keeps it intense and does it with an urgency. You may be watching a political drama but it feels more like you are watching Liam Neeson in "Taken." The movie keeps going and does well at not particularly siding with one party or the other whilst at the same time you feel like this is about Bill Clinton in a way. The film is completely star studded with A-list actors. We have here Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei, and Jefferey Wright. This makes the film seem a little less real because of all of the familiar faces but it still works because they are portraying sort of political figures that would be famous and known and once you get past saying, "I know that guy" you get lost in the performance of that guy. The movie really is intensely gripping and emotional at the same time. My eyes were glues to the screen waiting to see what would happen next, it is one of the best films of the entire year and I am excited to see how it does during awards season. This will not be the last you hear of George Clooney as a director and it will not be long before Ryan Gosling brings home his own Oscar.

5 out of 5 Stars