"Ides of March" review: Director Clooney leaves nothing to fate
(CBS) Politics has never been a game for the faint of heart, nor for the truly altruistic.
As Aristotle once said: "Politicians also have no leisure, because they are always aiming at something beyond political life itself, power and glory." Even diehard idealists eventually succumb to the realization that politics is a dirty game, full of cynics, whose ultimate goal is to spin the numbers in their favor.
That is the premise of "The Ides of March." Directed and co-written by George Clooney, together with Grant Heslov, the film is an adaptation of "Farragut North," a play by Beau Willimon.
Pictures:: The movie in Venice
Pictures: The movie in Toronto
Pictures: The movie in L.A.
Pictures: The movie in N.Y.
The story revolves around the campaign of Ohio Gov. Mike Morris (Clooney) running against a fellow for the party's nomination for president. With just one week to go before the Ohio primary, Morris, a political progressive who apparently won't budge on his principles, finds himself behind in the polls.
Managing his campaign is a veteran senior strategist, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. Tough as nails, the jaded tactician believes in loyalty to the end. His number two is Stephen Myers (Ryan Gosling), a smart-talking, media-savvy idealist, who is the real brains behind Morris' campaign.
New to the game, compared to his long-in-the-tooth counterparts, he breathes life into his candidate's message and in so doing, attracts the attention of the opposition. Hoffman's counterpart is Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) who sees Myers as an asset to his team and decides to try to lure him away.Tempted for a moment, the idealistic newbie sticks to his guns, confident that his candidate has what it takes to pull through.
Adding to the drama is the introduction of a flirtatious intern (Even Rachel Wood), whose major goal seems to be landing Myers. To make things interesting, Wood's character, Molly, is the daughter of the chairman of the DNC.
The two hit it off and sparks fly, but when Myers discovers a secret that could blow his nominee's campaign apart, things get ugly. Myers must decide whether he will become a victim of the dirty, underhanded politics he has tried so hard to distance himself from.
Ryan Gosling is flawless as the savvy media orchestrater, who finds himself caught up in a twisted web of deception. He is the butter to the splendid, crusty characters portrayed by Hoffman and Giamatti and proves he is one of Hollywood's hottest leading men, able to take on a wide range of roles.
Watching Hoffman and Giamatti, two actors at their peak, spar with one another is one of the highlights of the film. Each plays off the other to perfection. Marisa Tomei is equally invigorating as a New York Times reporter, who for the most part, is as cynical and hard-nosed as the politicians she covers.Clooney's character takes a back seat to the action going on behind the scenes of a brutal campaign. His character receives relatively little screen time, compared to the rest of a really formidable cast. Clooney and his writing partner have a voracious appetite for their subject matter and are familiar with the innards of campaign strategy.
The problem - yes, there is one - lies with a plot that seems all too predictable.
Once things derail for Gosling's character, the suspense in this political thriller dwindles. Although the premise and framework is well set, the storyline begins to erode and even the charisma of a top-notch cast isn't quite enough to make audiences feel completely fulfilled when they leave the theater.
That being said, "The Ides of March" is a compelling drama and, with a cast of incomparable character actors, remains, an entertaining way to distract us from the real-life political dramas unfolding before our eyes.
