The Ides of March
What started out like an awesome Aaron Sorkin-y political film quickly devolved into Primary Colors in present day. George Clooney played a Democratic candidate in the Ohio primary and his campaign was run by Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Ryan Gosling. It was good, don't get me wrong. The writing was solid - funny where needed, poignant where necessary. But it was too short and never delved into the political process at all - it became a story about what happens when Gosling finds out Clooney got an intern pregnant. That was pretty much the summary of the film. The best things about the film were Hoffman and Paul Giamatti, who is always a genius. The greatest line was when Gosling confronted Clooney about the affair, telling him that he broke the number one rule in politics, "You can lie, you can cheat, you can start a war, you can bankrupt the country. But you can't fuck the intern." Good stuff. Funny and also true. Gosling's character was difficult to portray bec