Ides of March (2011)

See “Ides of March” for its standout cast. Ryan Gosling. George Clooney. Paul Giamatti. Philip Seymour Hoffman. Jeffrey Wright. Evan Rachel Wood. A Giamatti and Hoffman face off? How cool is that? They need a better movie. This grim political drama should torch the screen. It barely sparks a flame. It’s about a suave campaign director (Gosling) devoted to his governor boss (Clooney) who is eyeing the presidency. And then – bam! – our hero learns his boss is a loose cock. Shocker? Not to the audience. But to Gosling’s Stephen Myers, yes. In modern America!?! Go on, watch. See if you can pick up motives I did not. Why does the governor reek of a trite symbol and not a person, and his wife (Jennifer Ehle) barely human at all? Did Wood’s intern eye Stephen with an agenda? She must have. How can anyone as smart as Stephen still believe in the whole candidate-savior crap at age 30? The dialogue should sting “Sweet Smell of Success” style, but it slumps. Clooney directs, with grey skies, dark bars and kitchens. Shakespearean? No. Melodrama? From start to finish. The high grade is for the cast alone. B

Across the Universe (2007)

Julie Taymor made the ultra-violent and bizarre "Titus" and the ultra-quirky and visual "Frida." Her latest, "Across the Universe" is interesting, but it's too way ultra-everything for its own good.

The film follows several young adults (including Evan Rachel Wood and Jim Sturgess) as they struggle through the 1960s, going to war or avoiding war. Music from The Beatles is sung by the cast as the film's central nervous system and heart. The film stops dead in its track often for long animated musical numbers that wear thin. A character named Prudence is given a wonderful intro and a good story (she's gay when being gay was way out of line) but is dropped without explanation mid-way through the film.

Taymor's vision in "Titus" and "Frida" served the films. The cart and horse are reversed here. More Prudence and prudence is needed. Bono, Eddie Izzard, Joe Cochran and other cool guys have cameos. C+