"All the reporters love you. Even the reporters that hate you still love you"
The Ides of March is
a political thriller set during the Democratic Primary in
The film is full of twists, turns and surprises and kept me
glued throughout its fairly short 101 minutes. Clooney’s Morris felt like a
Candidate too good to be true to me, being pro choice, atheist, pro alternative
energy and with plans for free college education. He was a candidate with the
sort of policies that appealed to me. To be honest, knowing what I do of
American Politics, his platform felt a little unrealistic but I’d vote for him.
As well as a candidate I was on board with, the film kept my interest up as I
never knew which direction it would turn next. It felt like a good episode of The West Wing crossed with a crime
mystery.
The ensemble cast was excellent. Clooney was every bit the
Presidential Candidate but took a back seat to Ryan Gosling who is the central
character. He felt a little too young for the role but that was one of the
facets of his character and he seemed to nail the super intelligent, analyser
which a real Campaign worker would need to be. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul
Giamatti got a couple of chances to spa against each other and that was a
highlight. Evan Rachel Wood was also very good as an intern. She could have
been swallowed up by those around her but held her own. Clooney’s direction
shows great promise and I look forward to see where he goes next. 
The film shows you an insight into who really runs a country
and the ins and out as to how they get to their position. It’s a fascinating
study of behind the scenes of Politics and had me gripped. I realise as someone
with a Politics degree I might be in the minority of people who finds this
stuff interesting though and my girlfriend soon turned to sorting out photos
even though Ryan Gosling was on screen. As someone who follows Politics closer
than some, I’d have liked the film to go a bit deeper into the process and
follow some of the twists a little further but obviously the deeper it goes,
the more chance it has of alienating its audience. In the end I think it trod
the line well. Overall this is a tense and taught political drama which though offering little new was an exciting and interesting look behind the scenes and had a couple of decent twists thrown in. The cast were all excellent and the story, solid. I was gripped and you can’t ask for anything more.
7/10
This is entertaining even if suspense barely builds and pay-off revelations come with little surprise. Clooney, as a director, is also able to draw-out amazing performances from this whole ensemble cast. Great review Tom.
ReplyDeleteI'm not someone who is politically minded and I know precious little of the American political system, but I really enjoyed Ides of March when I saw it. Really well cast and directed. I really liked the scene when PSH finds out he is off the campaign. All we see is him get into a car, wait a while, get out, and then the car drives off; never-the-less it managed to communicate very effectively what was happening. Subtle and classy. A very enjoyable film.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, that was an excellent scene. It said so much without saying anything at all. Good call.
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ReplyDeleteI usually stay away from political dramas but I did see this when it was in theaters, pretty much because of the steller cast. What struck me about this movie is that it should that the most idealistic candidate (represented by Clooney who was, as you mention, a middle of the road "perfect" candidate), politics are messy and you end up being pulled right down in the dirt with everyone else.
ReplyDeleteI have heard a number of times that Gosling seemed or was too young to play the role of the deputy campaign manager, but I think that was the point. To have this "kid" that was an intellectual, cocky, and with a perspective of younger generation to challenge those that have been in the game longer ever turn. How this young guy navigated himself through the political ranks with men 10+ years older than him was the best part of the movie for me.