The Ides of March

The Ides of March - Dir. George Clooney (2011)

The Ides of March, a pessimistic take on politics, receives a timely release with the nation's future as uncertain as ever and President Obama's approval ratings dropping to record lows.

Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) is the press secretary for the presidential campaign of Pennsylvania Gov. Mike Morris (George Clooney). Morris is the left-leaning liberal's wet dream; a handsome and charismatic politician who happens to be an atheist, pro-choice, anti-death penalty, and he wants to tax the rich and phase out combustible engines within ten years. Suspension of disbelief may be required to believe Morris stands a snowball's chance. The only threat to his bid for the Democratic nomination is Sen. Pullman (Michael Mantell). He isn't nearly as popular or photogenic as Morris, but conservatives will vote for him because they know he doesn't stand a chance against the Republican candidate.

Stephen receives a call from Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti), the rival campaign manager for Pullman. He foolishly accepts a meeting with Duffy, which sets off a chain reaction that could derail Morris' bid for presidency and Stephen's entire career.

The A-list ensemble cast includes: Evan Rachel Wood as an intern and love interest for Stephen, Philip Seymour Hoffman as Paul Zara the campaign manager for Mills, Jennifer Ehle as Mrs. Cindy Morris, and Marisa Tomei as a New York Times reporter.

As a director, George Clooney has shown he has studied under the learning tree of Steven Soderbergh and the Coen Brothers. He has accumulated a diverse filmography that includes the Charlie Kaufman-penned Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, the stark black and white drama Good Night, and Good Luck (one of the best film's of 2005), and the screwball comedy Leatherheads. The Ides of March isn't as strong as his sophomore effort, but it is a throwback to the politically charged thrillers of the 1970's. Clooney is clearly mimicking the work of Alan J. Pakula and Sidney Lumet. Not too shocking as Clooney has named Lumet's Network as one of his favorite films of all time.

The Ides of March is based on the play, Farragut North, which written by Beau Willimon who worked on the 2004 presidential campaign of Howard Dean. The play took its title from the subway station in Washington D.C. that sits at lobbyist central. In the play and the film (which was adapted by Clooney and writing partner Grant Heslov), Farragut North is a looming specter as the place where failed politicos go when ideals die. Tom Duffy warns Stephen that staying in politics too long will leave you cynical and jaded. That is the central theme of the movie as it follows the formerly optimistic Stephen's descent into compromise, blackmail, and backroom dealings.

The first act does a splendid job focusing on the little-seen gears and cogs of the political machine. Highlighted by clever, Sorkin-esque dialogue, Ides delves into the dirty deeds and subterfuge that goes along with the glad handing and fundraising. The film diverges from the play when it adds a series of soap opera twists and turns, none of which is as interesting as the earlier sections. The plot sags a bit in the middle before picking up towards the end. Thankfully, the ultra-talented cast lifts the material above its melodramatic trappings. Gosling is given more dialogue than Drive, but exudes the same simmering quality. It's also a treat to see actors of the caliber of Paul Giamatti and Philip Seymour Hoffman verbally sparring as two old campaign war horses. Though he's only in a handful of scenes, Jeffrey Wright brings a commanding presence as a North Carolina senator bucking for a cushy cabinet position in exchange for his vital endorsement.

The Ides of March had all the makings of an awards season darling and a classic political thriller. It doesn't reach those lofty levels the way Michael Clayton or Good Night, and Good Luck did. However, it is a well-made picture solidly directed by Clooney and packed with excellent performances.

Rating: *** (*****)

The Social Network

The Social Network - Dir. David Fincher (2010)

"You'd better lawyer up 'cause I'm coming back for everything."

The creation of Facebook doesn't sound like an enthralling premise for a movie. It doesn't seem like the type of subject matter that would attract David Fincher, the director of Seven, Fight Club and Zodiac. However, it would be criminal to dismiss The Social Network as simply the Facebook movie. Just as John Hughes captured the voice of teenage angst in the 80's, Fincher has captured the voice of the dot-com generation, a youth movement weaned on wi-fi, Blackberries, and YouTube. The film tracks Mark Zuckerberg's meteoric rise from Harvard sophomore to becoming the world's youngest billionaire.

The Social Network opens at a bar in Cambridge, Massachusetts as Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) sits down for a rapid-fire exchange with his girlfriend, Erica (Rooney Mara). Zuckerberg's mind is like a web browser with multiple windows open. He's engaging in multiple levels of conversation with Erica falling behind. Zuckerberg expresses his desire to get into one of Harvard's ultra-exclusive "final clubs" because they lead to a "better life." Throughout the discussion, he drops condescending remarks about Erica's inferior intelligence (inferior to his, at least). He snidely remarks she doesn't need to study because she goes to Boston University. Erica breaks up with him on the spot and fires back that Zuckerberg's failures with women will not be due to being a geek, but being an asshole.

Stunned, Zuckerberg returns to his dorm room to get drunk and blog about what a bitch his ex is. As a form of revenge against all women, he hacks into the domains of other dormitories in order to collect pictures of female students. He posts them online as a "Hot or Not Hot" website (Facemash) which becomes an instant sensation. It crashes the Harvard servers that very night at 4AM.

Zuckerberg receives a slap on the wrist from the university and draws the attention of twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss (Armie Hammer with Josh Spence as body double) and their business partner Divya Narenda (Max Minghella). The Winklevoss twins are the antithesis of Zuckerberg. Where he is short and gawky, they are tall and tanned Adonises, poster boys for Aryan perfection. They approach Zuckerberg with the idea of creating a social networking site that would be exclusively for Harvard students. Though he agrees, Zuckerberg strings them along while creating his own website initially called, TheFacebook, using seed money from his best friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield). Facebook becomes a massive success and Zuckerberg begins spreading the website to other campuses.

Enter Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), the brash co-founder of Napster and Plaxo. Parker acts as the proverbial devil on the shoulder telling Zuckerberg everything he wants to hear. Zuckerberg drops out of Harvard and moves the operation to Palo Alto near Silicon Valley. As Facebook nears its millionth user, Saverin finds himself edged out by Parker and files suit against his former friend. Fincher tells the film through numerous flashbacks as the story is revealed during two separate legal depositions. Zuckerberg is being sued by both Saverin and the Winklevoss contingent.

The Social Network is a largely fictionalized account of the events it depicts. While the movie is based on Ben Mezrich's book, The Accidental Billionaires (with Saverin as consultant), screenwriter Aaron Sorkin did much of his own research. Sorkin's knack for scintillating dialogue is firmly on display here along with a wry sense of humor. Not a single line of dialogue is wasted as every word means something. It's a testament to the talents of the director and the writer that one of the film's best sequences features characters sitting around a computer and typing Matrix-like code. Zuckerberg's creation of Facemash is seen through a montage set to a pulse-pounding score by Trent Reznor. Shots of geeks glued to a flat-screen monitor are juxtaposed with the hedonistic parties thrown by the elusive final clubs that Zuckerberg aspires to belong.

Jesse Eisenberg has played plenty of likeable nerds in films like Roger Dodger, The Squid and the Whale, and Zombieland. Here, he gets to make a few subtle changes to his on-screen persona to play a rather odious human being. Whenever Zuckerberg talks, he speaks in short clips as if he treats real-life conversations as status updates to his profile page. He's an utterly insecure person who latches onto every tiny infraction as the fuel for his passive aggressive patronization. He's smarter than everybody else and isn't afraid to let them know it. At the same time, there's a sympathetic layer when you look a little closer. Sometimes he says hurtful things and doesn't realize it. Zuckerberg simply does not grasp basic human interaction. It shouldn't be a surprise that he would attempt to distill the complexities of human beings into a unified database of trivial facts. Zuckerberg is also a Jewish kid from Long Island who will never be accepted into the rarified WASPy circles of the Ivy League elite. He's a change in the established order where tailor-made power suits are replaced by hoodies and flip flops. Is it any wonder that he latches onto the slick hucksterism of Sean Parker?

Like Zuckerberg, Parker probably received his fair share of wedges and swirlies in junior high. Now, he moves in a world of cocaine and champagne. He gets the VIP treatment at trendy nightclubs as shapely waitresses cater to his every whim and call him, "Mr. Parker." Timberlake is excellent in his role conveying an irascible smarminess as well as a sad coke-fueled paranoia. Let's not forget Andrew Garfield as Parker's foil and the object of Zuckerberg's betrayal. Garfield is on the fast track to becoming the next big thing and you can already tell the kind of performance he'll be bringing to the Sony's upcoming Spider-Man reboot. Armie Hammer is also owed a few notices. Thanks to some technical wizardry by Fincher, Hammer pulls double duty as the Winklevoss Twins and gives both a unique personality.

The Social Network is so much more than just the Facebook movie. As the title suggests, the film is not just about the internet's impact on society, but about society itself and the social morays that have been imposed on it. It's all about the sting of exclusion and the need for inclusion. It's all about measuring one's worth by who they know and what groups they belong to. Facebook didn't change the way we live our lives, it just made it easier for us to do what we've been doing for a long, long time.

The Social Network is already being considered the Citizen Kane of our times. While I don't buy into the hyperbole, there are plenty of similarities between the film's Mark Zuckerberg and Orson Welles' Charles Foster Kane. Both utilized the dominant form of media as their weapon of choice. Both had the world in the palm of their hands and alienated everyone that cared about them. Just like Kane found himself alone in the opulence of Xanadu, Zuckerberg finds himself alone in a sterile boardroom futilely refreshing the profile page of his ex-girlfriend.

Rating: ****