The Ides of March (***)
Directed by: George Clooney
Starring: Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul
Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, Max Minghella,
Jennifer Ehle, Gregory Itzin
Seen: January 2nd 2012
*** Out of ****
The Ides of March may be political, but it’s not about the actual
politics, not about why one would vote republican or democratic; it’s about the
machinations behind the scenes, about how a political campaign is managed. More
so even it’s about the lengths people will go to in order to capture a win in
the race, be it for their party or within their own party for the presidential
nomination. It depicts some truly detestable and weasel-like actions by people who
seem to be better than this, who project to the world, and their voters,
something better than this. As the poster for the movie claims: “Ambition
Seduces. Power Corrupts.”
Steven Meyers (Gosling) is the deputy campaign manager for Democratic
presidential candidate Mike Morris (Clooney), with Paul Zara (Hoffman) as the campaign
manager. Opposing Morris is senator Ted Pullman, his campaign managed by Tom
Duffy (Giamatti). The movie uses as framework their race to acquire the state
of Ohio in their bid to become the presidential nominee for the Democratic
Party. Paul and Steven have close ties to the press in Paul’s good friend and
possibly even sometimes bed-mate reporter Ida (Tomei), who claims her boyfriend
will understand her unfaithfulness to him if the story is big enough. Ida does
however put her reporting job in absolute first place, and any actual
friendship does at times during the movie take a back-stabbing back-seat.
Steven is extremely talented, and while 2IC, he takes a lot of
responsibility in the campaign because of his astute mind and insight bordering
on clairvoyance. When Duffy contacts him for a meeting and he can’t reach Paul,
he decides to go, and Duffy offers him a job. Conflict starts arising when Steven
confesses to Paul, and Paul doesn’t like the fact that Steven may have a compromised
concept of loyalty one bit. Matters are even further complicated for Steven
when he gets involved with the pretty campaign intern Molly (Wood), whom he realises
has darker secrets than we were first led to believe; secrets that may be
extremely disastrous for the campaign.
Steven is the star, and he navigates treacherous waters and difficult
threats and conditions with aplomb, as he procures important support for the
campaign while obtaining information and quite possibly the moral obligation to
sink the campaign. Politics is about winning though, and Steven is
exceptionally good at that, as he proves around every corner. He might be down,
but he’s never out, and in those moments of wondering how he’ll ever surmount
the next obstacle the viewer eventually starts believing that Steven will
overcome what whatever comes his way.
George Clooney is a very accomplished film maker, and he can certainly
tell/relay a variety of stories in interesting and entertaining ways. Ryan
Gosling is very much one of the finds of the generation, and I wouldn’t be too
surprised if he wins many major awards in years to come. Philip Seymour
Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei, and even Evan Rachel Wood are all great
in their supporting roles, bringing urgency to every scene. The Ides of March
is an accomplished drama and political thriller, a solid movie that may fall in
more peoples’ tastes than expected.
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