The Ides of March Review (2011)

Director: George Clooney
Writers: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, & Beau Willimon
Genre: Political thriller/Drama


3.5 cookies
Glass of milk - The cast (specifically, Ryan Gosling)

Politics. Politics. Politics. You got to love politics. And when a story about politics is told with the craft and precision that George Clooney brings to the table, in his fourth film as a director, the result is a tightly packed, crisply plotted thriller of a film. While it never necessarily reaches the soaring heights of importance it could have, it is still tremendously entertaining, and one of the best and  best-acted films of the year.

Before I get to the plot, let me just say that The Ides of March is essentially an acting all star game. In the NBA, you have Kobe, LeBron, Wade, Nowitzki, and Durant. In The Ides of March, the starting lineup is Gosling, Clooney, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giametti, and Marissa Tomei, with Evan Rachel Wood and Jeffrey Wright coming off the bench. The cast is so good in this movie that it even gets distracting at points – it’s almost like each actor wants to hit the game winning shot.

In the end, while all the actors involved score in double digits, it’s Gosling who hits the buzzer beater. Already establishing 2011 as the best year of his career in the fantastic Crazy Stupid Love, and the gritty Drive, Gosling continues his winning streak, and cool streak, as the young, assistant  presidential campaign manager Stephen Myers.

The story tips off as Governor Mike Morris (Clooney) is in a fierce political battle to win the Ohio Democratic primary as it could be the key for him to get the Democratic nomination for President. Phillip Seymour Hoffman plays his campaign manager, and Gosling plays Hoffman’s assistant, who firmly believes that Morris could actually bring positive change to America if elected President. But soon, things start to slip out of control as betrayal, sex, and corruption enter into the fray. The film is essentially a morality tale about how far people will go to get what they want, and that even the best of us can be corrupted. Gosling’s character is at the center of it all.

The liberal Clooney provides us with a darkly cynical view of America’s politics – it’ll be interesting to see how much he’s involved with campaigning during the 2012 election. If you want to feel good about the people running our country, this is not the movie for you. If you’re interested in the art of lying, The Ides of March is essentially a study on the subject.

The twists and turns are unpredictable and come quickly once the story gets going – you never know exactly who to root for because just when you think one thing, something will happen to make you think differently. There are no heroes in this movie, after all it’s about politics.

Now, this isn’t the masterpiece it may look like on the surface. With a lesser cast and a director not as skilled as Clooney, Ides could have easily come off as a schlocky political melodrama. Fortunately, the cast is stellar and Clooney is a solid filmmaker, so the movie works if you go in expecting an  intelligent and entertaining 100 minutes, that could spur a good conversation about American politics.

It’s fun, it’s smart, it’s satisfying – your money will be well spent.