#22 The Ides of March
One of the things Ryan Gosling seems to get better than just about anyone in Hollywood right now is the notion of mystique. As campaign staffer Stephen Meyers, he is the kind of person that stays in poker face mode at all times, despite his somewhat obvious motives of rising to the top of the political heap. In comparison to his counterparts, though, he still shows flashes of idealism. The benefactor of his toils is Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney), all well-coiffed, slicked-back charm. As the movie begins, Morris seems to be the favorite in the Ohio Democratic primary, which as we all know from elections past is a hugely important state that often is decisive and swings momentum towards its winner. Meyers' boss is Paul Zara (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), a competitive type whose cynicism is only matched by his wits. Following a debate between Morris and his challenger, the opposing campaign manager Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) mentions a play to try and steal Meyers away from Zara and the Morris campaign. As Zara sputters and curses under his breath, Meyers appears a little intrigued by the offer. When Meyers begins to spend time with young intern Molly Stearns (Evan Rachel Wood) though, he uncovers some harsh truths and learns just how dirty politics can be (duh). Suddenly, he has a choice to make--does he keep things copacetic, or does he take his knowledge and use it as a springboard to relevance?
The movie functions as a pretty interesting character portrait of a young man coming to terms with reality, and feels feasible as a study of the cutthroat nature of American politics. George Clooney, who wrote and directed the film, understands that in order to win in America, you have to meet in the middle both morally and politically. Any time that Meyers recommends Morris to lean left, he pushes towards the center. Gosling and Clooney both turn in great performances as expected. While the ensemble cast is good, PSH is underutilized, and Marisa Tomei (as an obnoxious reporter) and Evan Rachel Wood are limited by the fact that they are women in a game that has always seemed to be for men. I found that aspect of the story to be a little shortsighted in its scope, and I also found that Meyers' path seemed a little too unobstructed. Nonetheless, The Ides of March proved to be a believable story in blemished and downright nasty culture.
#21 The Help
From the second this beast came steamrolling out of the Hollywood studio circuit and cultivating buzz, I thought "Oscar bait". I mean, just look at the story--starry-eyed college grad Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone), looking for a big scoop to bolster her writing, decides to buck her high society upbringing and create a tell-all book about African-American maids and their hardships in the 1960s Jim-Crow south. I mean, come on. It practically checks off "uplifting", "underdog story" and "socially relevant" within the first fifteen minutes.
Bait or not, The Help is still a good flick, due almost entirely to its performances. The Help at the story's center is Aibeleen Clark (Viola Davis), Skeeter's neighbor's maid, who is more of a mother to the neighbor's children than their mother is. This, it turns out, is par for the course in the south, where wealthy "stay-at-home" moms are more busy drinking Arnold Palmers and talking shit about those who don't dress the part. None more so than the devilish Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard), heading up Home Health Sanitation Initiative, which would basically limit their maids further by creating separate, nastier bathrooms for them to use. One day during a thunderstorm, Minny (Octavia Spencer) refuses to use the outhouse and ends up fired by Holbrook. Skeeter helps Minny find work with the aloof, bubbly Celia (Jessica Chastain), but not before Minny extracts revenge on Hilly in the form of a "chocolate" pie. From there, the war wages on and more and more maids sign on to help Skeeter write her book.
Viola Davis should and most likely will take home the Oscar for her role as Aibeleen, a woman who bottles in all of her struggles because she needs the job and because she genuinely loves all of the children she has raised; her worn face and deep eyes reflect a hundred lifetimes. I personally think the snubbed Keira Knightley (A Dangerous Method) should be taking home the gold in the supporting role, but if Spencer wins as the outspoken and often outrageous Minny, it will be deserved. As far as the white girls, I thought all were good and though Chastain got the nod, Howard killed as the villainous and un-redeemable Hilly Holbrook. Yes, the movie does the struggle-to-uplifting bit to death, and it gets its middle-class viewers to go "Well, I'm not racist because I can identify." But all in all it works. Sometimes you feel like leaving the theater with your heart all warm and gooey, and this one fills that niche admirably.
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