One of the best films of the year, The Ides of March delves deep into the darker realm of politics and challenging one’s own sensibilities. While snubbed by many Oscar nominations, except Best Adapted Screenplay, the film has been a critical and commercial success. The Ides of March is based on a play Farragut North and has been directed by George Clooney.

The film takes place during the Ohio campaign where Pennsylvania Senator Mike Morris (George Clooney) is vying for a win to become the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate. Morris and his opponent Senator Pullman of Arkansas are both hoping to receive an endorsement by North Carolina Democratic Senator Franklin Thompson (Jeffrey Wright) which will guarantee the Democratic nomination.

Morris is hoping to change the landscape of the country with his strong opinions and tough truths. His Junior Campaign Manager, Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) is drawn to Morris’s ideologies. The young Meyers is an intelligent man with enough talent to see a great future ahead of him. Pullman’s Campaign Manager Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) sees the spark in Meyers and asks him to meet while Morris’s Senior Campaign Manager Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is out of town. Meyers also has a romantic relationship Molly Stearns (Evan Rachel Wood), one of Morris’s Ohio interns. Ida (Marisa Tomei), a reporter for the New York Times, is sniffing the trail at every point to uncover both campaigns strategies and the details of both candidates meetings with Senator Thompson.

When the campaign gets tougher, Thompson’s endorsement for Morris seems to be slipping and an ugly truth about Morris reveals itself, Meyers is caught between his duties and his own personal interests.
The film is different from most political thrillers because it weaves a wider web than we initially assume. The glossy veneer of a new charismatic presidential candidate with bare bones grit seems like the one who can have it all. His team represents the best and brightest minds. Yet Morris’s character is as human as his support system and just as fallible.

George Clooney plays a smaller, brilliant role but Gosling is undoubtedly the star of the film keeping his own amongst heavyweights like Paul Giamatti, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Marisa Tomei. Evan Rachel Wood is also someone who deserves praise for her role in The Ides of March and her previous character in Mildred Pierce warrants stronger and meatier roles for the actress, hopefully this may be the first of many. Clooney as a director picks projects with strong story and morals, which bring to mind his strongest film Good Night and Good Luck; The Ides of March is not very different in its approach.

The Ides of March is a tale of intrigue, politics and the dark turns taken for the greater good.

— Kiran Haroon

*CINEMATIC SUICIDE
**FORGETTABLE
***WATCHABLE
****COLLECTIBLE
*****AWARD-WORTHY

The Ides of March
International Reviews

This is intelligent filmmaking, and a provocative moral fable. It may not be perfect, but it stands as one of the better, most realistic movies about the way we elect our leaders.
- Charlie McCollum, San Jose Mercury News

Just about every other scene in the film is a simple pleasure unto itself between the equally confident writing, direction and performances.
- William Goss, Film.com

Yet another fantastic performance from Ryan Gosling, in what has turned out to be his breakout year that elevates him to the top rank of actors.
- Phil Villarreal, OK! Magazine

The twists and shocks of this story are delivered with emotional precision, each one landing like a heavy punch to the stomach, making every minute crackle with intensity.
- Tim Martain, The Mercury

I’m so convinced that Clooney will eventually make his Huge, Important Film About American Politics that it’s odd to me he’s made this one: his small, entertaining film about American politics.
- CJ Johnson, ABC Radio (Australia)