The Ides of March

Directed by: George Clooney

Written by: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon

It's not too often that a good political thriller comes along anymore, but "The Ides of March" fills that need exceptionally well.

Stephen Meyers (Gosling) is an up-and-coming campaign strategist who has hitched his wagon to the presidential primary campaign of Governor Mike Morris (Clooney) because of Morris's take-no-prisoners and tell-no-lies style. But when Meyers is contacted by a rival campaign manager (Giamatti), it begins a chain of events that threatens to destroy Meyers's career and derail the Morris campaign entirely. It is in this face of adversity that the characters reveal their true selves and what they are willing to do to take power.

To start, the acting in this film is fantastic. Gosling is just about the weakest link, and it's merely because he under plays his part, which is a bit tough to deal with given that he's protagonist. Marisa Tomei's character of the nitty-gritty-political-journalist is completely unnecessary except to advance one minor plot hitch, but she does a solid job considering the minor role. Clooney and Giamatti are at the top of their game, as is Philip Seymour Hoffman.

What this film does exceptionally well, which has not yet been tackled by a modern political thriller, is show the workings of a modern campaign. Not since "Primary Colors" has a high-profile film tried to cover contemporary election tactics. And "Primary Colors" was based clearly on the Clinton campaign, but "The Ides of March" is not based on an actual campaign, although there are references and allusions to some recent strategies.

There movie does rely on a cliche plot twist at a major key point, which is rather disappointing. (I can't give it away here, as it is basically the climactic turn.) I just felt that with all the creative starts and turns, there could have been something more original to use at that point. To give credit, that one twist was predictable, but how that twist plays out and affects the story is more more effectively done.

Kudos to Clooney for making the film. It was effective and enjoyable.

Quantum of Solace

Directed by: Marc Foster

Written by: Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade

With most film series, you pretty much know what you're getting by the third film. Although the writers and producers like to keep things fresh, the same holds true for "Quantum of Solace,"the twenty-second film in the 007 James Bond series.

This movie picks up right where it's predecessor (2006's "Casino Royale") left off. Bond (Craig) is in hot pursuit of the villains who killed the woman he loved. Along the way, he begins to unravel a plot to start revolutions by securing water supplies around the globe, all under the guise of environmentalism. The main villain is Dominic Greene (Amalric), an operative of the secret evil organization Quantum, who has been making deals to help military dictators in exchange for seemingly useless pieces of land, then forcing those dictators to accept Quantum's monopoly on water supplies. As usual, Bond saves the day, though the true designs of Quantum are never revealed.

I liked the fact that this film is a direct sequel, referencing specific events from "Casino Royale" and using it to develop the characters. Previous Bond films were linked by recurring characters, but the films tended to be isolated from one another. It was nice to see things that were established in the previous film - such as Bond's relationship with Felix Leiter (Wright) - carry over and have an effect on events in this movie.

I was struck by how visually beautiful this Bond film was. Some of the color schemes and cinematography were striking - especially the desolation surrounding the climactic confrontation.

The film is long and drags along at points, especially in the middle. So that's one in the "con" column. At several points, just as it seems like it's picking up momentum, it slows back down again. Some scenes felt excruciatingly long to reveal a plot point that could have been found some other way. In this case, I'm thinking specifically of the long air battle in the desert which eventually leads to Bond discovering the secret water reservoir.

Despite the somewhat choppy pacing, "Quantum of Solace" does manage to keep the tension very high. The stake-out at the opera house is a great scene with some fantastic cat-and-mouse drama mixed with small-but-effective.

You don't have to be a huge James Bond fan to enjoy this movie, but it will definitely help. "Casino Royale" is essential viewing first, though. I wouldn't recommend this as a starting-off point for Bond rookies, either.