The Ides of March

THE IDES OF MARCH
E1
RELEASED 28 October 2011

Let’s be honest, George Clooney playing a presidential candidate is dream casting. Women swoon when he’s onscreen, while men are equally swayed by his relaxed, smooth-talking vibe. I wouldn’t be surprised if President Obama takes notes on Clooney’s effortless way with the press. He packs the idealism of JFK and the intelligence of Obama into one unbeatable package (not forgetting that lovely salt and pepper hair!)

Governor Mike Morris (Clooney) is running a great campaign to become the next Democratic candidate for the White House, but his campaign team tell him he’s going to have to compromise his principals and extend an olive branch to Senator Thompson (Jeffrey Wright) if he wants to win Ohio, otherwise there’s the very real possibility his campaign might collapse. Morris decides he can’t do it. Facing the threat of losing, young and smart campaign aide Steven Myers (Ryan Gosling) agrees to meet rival campaign aide Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) after being told it’s of the utmost importance. Duffy wants Myers to switch sides and come and work for him. Following the example of Morris, Myers sticks to his guns, even though he knows his career is facing a dead-end. But what Myers doesn’t realise is that he’s just begun a real-life chess game that will challenge everything he knows about politics.

The fourth directing gig for George Clooney is easily his best yet. It’s the kind of film you’d expect Robert Redford to have made at the height of his energies. Political, manipulative, conversational, and topical, Clooney, credited as a co-writer alongside Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon, not only gives an impressive, dare-I-say-it, Presidential performance, but he focuses the camera squarely on the actors and captures every nuance of the maelstrom of emotions which are bubbling under in what turns out to be a turbulent few days. That’s not to say it feels like a ‘talky’ movie, as Clooney shows imagination with his choice of camera shots, as well as capturing the cold Ohio streets.

Although Clooney is the marquee name, it’s Ryan Gosling’s film, and he exudes an inner confidence just like his star-making turn in ‘Drive’. There’s extra acting-oomph from Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the elder, campaign manager, and Evan Rachel Wood as the campaign intern Molly Stearns.

‘The Ides of March’ is the kind of movie anyone will enjoy. It features familiar Machiavellian scheming, whether you’re in politics or just catching gossip in the staff kitchen. The higher the stakes, the more we risk, and the more we have to lose. ‘The Ides of March’ spends an hour and a half making the right decisions. It’s got my vote.

FOUR OUT OF FIVE