Mr Clooney has taken rather well to this directing lark, even if he's rather preoccupied with the machinations of government and politics and may have to do something else next to keep up the interest levels. It helps a great deal of course when he can draft in a host of the finest character actors Hollywood has to offer in the shape of Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti. Clooney himself plays a slick Democrat presidential candidate, with Gosling as the actual centre of the film as an over-confident young campaign manager. He's an idealistic rising star and so of course headed for a fall when an unwise dalliance with an intern and an unofficial meeting with his opposite number give his senior colleague the excuse he needs to force him out.
In truth, there's not much here we haven't seen in
The West Wing or a range of other American political dramas. But the dialogue is knowing and punchy, and good actors go a long way to compensating for the limitations of a well-worn formula, with Gosling's trademark air of existential disillusionment a particularly good fit for the main role.
6/10
No comments:
Post a Comment