Movie Review: The Ides of March
Dipping into his A-list Rolodex, George Clooney assembles an enviable cast to bring to life his fourth directorial effort – the heated political drama The Ides of March. Clooney has often deflected questions of actual political aspirations while maintaining a strong presence in left-leaning causes which he now voices with plainspoken idealism through his character Governor Mike Morris.
On the primary battlefields of Ohio, Presidential-aspirant Morris is gaining on his staid opponent thanks to the brilliant machinations of a seasoned but young press secretary (Ryan Gosling) and a pragmatic old guard campaign chief (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Clooney and his writers Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon use former Hillary Clinton and Howard Dean staffer Willimon’s play Farragut North as their source material with the major change of Governor Morris actually appearing in and manipulating the drama.
Efficiently told with lively, dialogue-heavy scenes, The Ides of March has enough poisonous revelations and vicious political gamesmanship to satisfy adult audiences who have been waiting out the summer for the more cerebral fare to arrive – though it breaks no new ground and is ultimately a mild thriller that without Clooney’s box-office clout would have been suited to the sort of ensemble dramas HBO has perfected (much like the failed, Clooney-produced Washington insider series K Street).
“He will let you down” assures journalist Ida Horowitz (Marisa Tomei) to Gosling’s Stephen Myers in a warning challenge to the staffer’s unflagging belief in Morris’ unimpeachable character – a portent of the spiral of back-stabbing, blackmail, and human casualties that will challenge Stephen’s conscience and livelihood.
Gosling continues his ascent as one of the best actors working today in a role which requires both easy charm and the steely will to take down his mentors once the tables are turned against him. His performance is the greatest justification for seeing The Ides of March – Gosling has an epic intensity comparable to early Mickey Rourke and Robert De Niro that demands the large emotional canvas of a cinema screen.
George Clooney in The Ides of March. Photo by Saeed Adyani,
© 2011. IDES FILM HOLDINGS, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
The supporting cast led by Paul Giamatti’s rival campaign chief, Jeffrey Wright (a malleable U.S. Senator), and Evan Rachel Wood (daughter of the DNC chairman and a romantic wrench in the works) all play to their strengths. For a certain segment of drama fans, watching Giamatti, Hoffman, and Gosling duel with red-level repartee is enough to make for a great night of entertainment, others may be hoping for more hyper-active, John Grisham-level thrills.
In changing the title of the play from an inside joke about where political wonks go when they burn out to a “Julius Caesar” reference, the filmmakers promise a level of timeless tragedy they could not possibly achieve (it doesn’t even compare to the great American political novel All the King’s Men), but what they have produced is a terse, distressing view of American politics where the assassin “Brutus” just might be the hero after all.
Gregory Fichter
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