THE IDES OF MARCH 3.5****
“The Ides of March” can be described as a political thriller, and it will certainly grip you and have you on the edge of your seat at times, with its twists and turns.
Ryan Gosling plays an assistant campaign manager, who works for Philip Seymour Hoffman, and both work for Governor Morris, played by George Clooney, a man with eyes on the presidency. Paul Giamatti plays a veteran campaign manager for a rival politician. Evan Rachel Wood plays a young intern who gets drawn into the political intrigues, and Marisa Tomei plays a hard scrabbling reporter always looking for dirt to dish, although, in fact, she is simply seeking the truth.
Ides of March, and its characters portray every shade of dark, and you may wonder how something as innocuous as agreeing to meet a rival for a drink in a bar can become such a potential disaster, and how going on a date with an intern when you're single can lead to such complications. Certainly Stephen Myers (Gosling) is left to wonder how minor personal actions can have such potentially dire personal political consequences.
The story is brilliantly constructed and told, and as you might expect with a political movie, it contains tons of sound bites. We all know that politics can be quite dirty with lowdown tricks and negative campaigning, but I don't think you have seen anything quite like this except in real politics. One persons pain becomes another person’s political gain.
While the movie does not scream surefire Oscar winner it certainly yells, and Gosling should be nominated for Best Actor. George Clooney wears three hats as actor, director, and co-writer, and who better to play a smooth politician. Hoffman and Giamatti as usual are brilliant. Either or both could be nominated. In fact you will see few movies with such a strong ensemble this year, with three Oscar winners on board.
Clark