Posts Tagged ‘Grant Heslov’

Short Take: Deftly written and directed for those who have forfeited all optimism for American politics - or are prepared to

Director: George Clooney

Screenwriters: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon; based on Farragut North by Beau Willimon

Cast: Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright

Length: 1h 41m

Synopsis: Nearing the turning point to a highly contested Democratic Primary election, Pennsylvania Governor Mike Morris (Clooney) and his chief campaign managers Paul (Hoffman) and Stephen (Gosling) are trying desperately to win out against the competing Senator and his crafty press secretary Tom Duffy (Giamatti) for the pivotal state of Ohio. Soon before full support is set to swing in either candidate’s favor, dependent upon the backing of the powerful Senator Thompson (Wright), Stephen, a genuinely fervent devotee of Morris’ politics, accidentally gets entangled in a small scandal when Duffy decides to bid for his defection. Word of the two’s meeting creates friction at the top of the Morris campaign, and from there on the dominos fall in the direction of defeat. Forced to test his loyalties by defending his personal ambitions, Stephen finds a way to play himself back into good professional standing using questionable influences and political chicanery. Although he may have started out rather green, Stephen discovers just how dirty the art of politics can really be.

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Short Take: A comedy with layers, but none so interesting as the jokes within them

Director: Grant Heslov

Screenwriter: Peter Straughan, Jon Ronson (book)

Cast: George Clooney (Michael Clayton), Ewan McGregor (Angels and Demons), Jeff Bridges (Iron Man), Kevin Spacey (Superman Returns, Moon)

Length: 1h 34m

Synopsis: A journalist eager to gain entry into Iraq to cover the ongoing war on terror (McGregor), bumps into a man (Clooney) who can grant him his wish. On a secret mission of his own, it turns out this mysterious man was once part of the U.S. military. His job: to help build a superhero army equipped with psychological powers. This man’s story becomes the one really worth telling. Read the rest of this entry »

George Clooney...staring at a goat.

The Men Who Stare at Goats debuted this weekend, and for those who may have missed it ComingSoon.net published an interview with the film’s director, Grant Heslov. The site makes apologies for the brevity of the interview because it was done over the phone and in a time-crunch, however they were able to squeeze in a number of interesting questions.

Overall the interview is of the same standard quality that most of the sites’ are. It has some simple, obvious questions, but for the most part it steers the interviewee into providing generally insightful responses. For anyone interested in seeing the film but hasn’t yet for whatever reason, or if you’ve seen it and would like to know more about it, I recommend reading this piece.

Also, expect to see us post our review of The Men Who Stare at Goats sometime this week.