THE IDES OF MARCH

The Ides of March (2011)
Grade: B
Directed by George Clooney
Starring: Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Evan Rachel Wood, Paul Giammatti, Jeffrey Wright, and Marisa Tomei
PREMISE: An idealistic campaign worker becomes involved in a tangled web of conspiracy and threats just as the presidential candidate he works for is on the verge of winning a key primary.

RATED R for strong language (including sexual references) and brief sexuality--WOO-WEE!!! I would watch this movie right now. Here we are, in the height of election season, with the Republican Presidential Candidate race essentially down to Messrs Romney and Gingrich, and I watch The Ides of March, which is, to put it plainly, everyone's worst nightmare assumption of what work in politics is really like. Written and directed by George Clooney, adapted from the play "Farragut North", by Beau Willmon, one of Clooney's fellow credited screenwriters, Ides is a taut, crackling tale of lost innocence and cutthroat competition that can stun the meeker folks among us into silence.

--Stephen Myers (the always-reliable Ryan Gosling) is the creme de le creme of campaign workers. Thirty years old, good-looking, well-informed, witty, and as good in front of cameras as he is behind them, Stephen has foes and allies alike drooling over his ability. The lucky man receiving the fruits of Stephen's earnest hard labor is Governor Mike Morris of Pennsylvania (Clooney), a happily-married, smooth-talking Democrat seeking to win the party's crucial primary in Ohio. He knows, as does his competition, Arkansas Senator Ted Pullman (Michael Mantell), that as goes Ohio, so goes the nation, and Ohio most likely goes as does Senator Thompson (Jeffrey Wright). So, while the two candidates give speeches and make important appearances at colleges and community centers and town halls, Stephen, and Morris' campaign manager (Philip Seymour Hoffman), work furiously to outwit and outwager their adversary (Paul Giamatti), Pullman's campaign manager, in order to gain the support of Thompson and the 356 delegates he controls.

--You have to squirm, watching this movie, what with the current state of affairs in our world. Yes, we get the usual-things we're used to seeing-clips of the candidates giving speeches, trading jabs during debates, working their way through Q&A sessions, and, in Clooney's Morris' case, talking with the top men in his campaign, planning to rewrite his prewritten speeches in his own words, and being kindly but frankly told by his wife, Cindy (Jennifer Ehle) that he ought to do whatever it takes to win. Nothing we haven't seen in movies before. But then we get Giamatti's Tom Duffy inviting Stephen out for drinks, claiming he has some information Stephen must know, and a give-me-the-scoop-I-want-or-your-campaign's-over ultimatums from a sharp-tongued columnist (Marisa Tomei). It's all the frank, dog-eat-dog honesty the idealists among us (like Stephen) want to believe aren't actually happening, and it's unsettling, as Stephen himself finds. Even more unsettling is the moment when Stephen, who's been sleeping with a 20-year-old campaign intern (Evan Rachel Wood), answers her phone by accident in the dead of night only to find that it's his candidate, Governor Morris, calling.

--It's all very effective, accomplished with white-knuckle verve and a scathing cynicism that is, in all fairness, probably closer to the truth than the idealism Stephen tries to cling to once things start going downhill. The entire movie covers only a few days leading up to the Ohio primary, but it travels a long way, and a lot of sweet-natured notions are shattered in that time.

--I watched it all with bright interest, laughing at the jokes and what I saw as the writers' tongue-in-cheek nods to modern politics in all its craziness, yet I also vowed that I would read up on my candidates before voting in next year's election. Every candidate gets their dirty laundry aired this time of year, and some viewers might be inclined to scoff at the revelation about Clooney's character-that it's nothing new, that everyone does it-but it'll be gut-wrenching for others. And, as seen through the eyes of Stephen, whose ascendent, perfect world starts falling down around his ears with startling rapidity, the whole thing is truly shocking.

--Gosling is rock-solid at the center of this movie, conveying as much with his eyes and expressions as he ever does with dialogue. He can hardly be called the hero (is a 30-year-old's sleeping with a 20-year-old intern, with no-strings-attached, of course, really a way to win our sympathies?), yet he doesn't ever fly off the handle, as we eventually feel he'd be justified in doing. The character is too clearly and realistically-etched for that, yet Gosling shows us, just with his eyes, that he has certainly given it a thought. It's something of a surprise to see Gosling, who recently won a lot of acclaim as a cool-as-a-cucumber womanizer in this summer's Crazy Stupid Love, as a straight man in the film's early going, but he wins our sympathies enough for us to see him as the good guy when things start getting ugly.

--As the would-be honorable politician who nonetheless earns our unabashed spite in later scenes, George Clooney is pitch-perfect. With the perfect hair, the gleaming eyes, the easygoing, lightly-sarcastic line delivery and that ever-present half-smile that has made him such a big deal in romantic roles over the years, Clooney looks like a politician. He even acts like one. Early on, he seems like a real, earnest, idealist candidate, but, of course, contemporary politics are too corrupt for that, and he shows us why.

--The rest of the cast is strong, as well. Hoffman doesn't ever fly off the handle, either, which is something of a surprise, given his often-volatile screen presence (see Charlie Wilson's War, with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts for more details), but he brings his usual intensity and his hiss-worthy motives enough for us to doubt that we should trust him, even when, early on, he's Stephen's biggest ally. Forget the "ally" and "trusting" part, and the same goes for Paul Giamatti, who only has a few short scenes but soon has us, like Gosling, screaming for his head. Marisa Tomei has a somewhat thankless role as the scummy journalist (yay, journalists!), but a big hand is due for Evan Rachel Wood. Wood was once seen as something like the next big thing (she won all kinds of acclaim for her role in Thirteen, when she was just 16). She's slipped a little bit since--possibly because of her extended relationship with cross-gendered, zombie singer Marilyn Manson--but she's tremendous here, earning, in time, both our spite and our hearts, as a confused girl who, as Clooney later aptly says, is "a girl trying to live in a very grown-up world".

--Ides is well paced, with few scenes lasting longer than a few minutes and the same scene often picking up pieces of multiple conversations for our benefit. Others, especially late in the film, once Stephen realizes what he's becoming-part of the snake pit he was trying to stay above-speak volumes with just facial expressions, or with just the film's terrific, pulse-pounding score. Shadows and darkness are often important for effect, and the multiple scenes of cheering, sign-waving crowds (especially of patriotic but naive youths) are all too real, chilling in a movie that reaches serious depths.

So, do I recommend it?
I bet there'd be a lot of interest in this movie, considering its relevance, although that same relevance is what will get some people to watch it just for a derisive laugh or sense of affirmation, and others won't want to watch it because they "don't want to think about that kind of stuff". But for a movie that's barely an hour-and-a-half--a thriller without violence and with just a hint of romance--it nonetheless keeps you rooted to your seat. There is a fair amount of profanity, but it's not exceptionally abrasive, and there's just a hint of nudity in one scene, but it passes quickly. If you're really into politics, by all means...

Bottom Line (I promise):
Cynical but effective, fake but very real, quickly-paced, well-acted, and jaw-dropping in its dog-eat-dog mentality, this is a very intriguing piece. Man, just 10 years ago, no one would ever have thought George Clooney was any kind of artistic genius. Now...

The Ides of March (2011)
Directed by George Clooney
Based on the play "Farragut North" by Beau Willmon
Written by George Clooney, Beau Willmon and Grant Heslov
Rated R for strong language and some sexuality
Length: 101 minutes