4/5
George Clooney's The Ides of March is an intriguing political thriller. Critiquing the corruption of American democracy, The Ides of March shows how tiring it really is to run a presidential campaign, while alluding to the idea that to win, we may need to abandon our personal idealogies. Starring Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Paul Giametti and Philip Seymour-Hoffman, The Ides of March is both a thought provoking and entertaining film.
Stephen Meyers (Gosling) is the PR guy on a Presdential campaign for Governor Mike Miller (Clooney). He's young, he has experience and a bright future, and he brings in the voters. While on campaign in Ohio, Miller's competitor meets with Meyers and offers him a job. The meeting eventually leaks to the press and damages the Senator's chances at winning the Democratic primary. To make matters more complicated, one of the young women working on the campaign is pregnant with Governor Miller's child. If word of this gets out it would ruin Miller's stint as any kind of political candidate. This just goes to show the two-facedness of political candidates, as Miller seems in all ways to bet he perfect candidate. He’s motivated, he believes in the constitution, he’s likeable, he supports strong moral values, he agrees to freedom of speech and action. However, even a guy like Mike Miller can have a seedy underbelly.
Meyer's character is a true believer. He knows that Mike Miller is the only one who will really make a difference in people's lives, and this drives him to fight for Miller's campaign. However, Meyer's idealist views are shattered as he is exposed to the dirty side of politics during the film. While trying to determine his role in the system, he works to quickly mend any problems of Miller's campaign, as if it all falls apart, Meyer's career will be over. The more senior aids on the campaign can always get a job consulting in Washington, but the young Meyers will be hung out to dry if the campaign becomes a PR nightmare.
George Clooney's The Ides of March is an intriguing political thriller. Critiquing the corruption of American democracy, The Ides of March shows how tiring it really is to run a presidential campaign, while alluding to the idea that to win, we may need to abandon our personal idealogies. Starring Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Paul Giametti and Philip Seymour-Hoffman, The Ides of March is both a thought provoking and entertaining film.
Stephen Meyers (Gosling) is the PR guy on a Presdential campaign for Governor Mike Miller (Clooney). He's young, he has experience and a bright future, and he brings in the voters. While on campaign in Ohio, Miller's competitor meets with Meyers and offers him a job. The meeting eventually leaks to the press and damages the Senator's chances at winning the Democratic primary. To make matters more complicated, one of the young women working on the campaign is pregnant with Governor Miller's child. If word of this gets out it would ruin Miller's stint as any kind of political candidate. This just goes to show the two-facedness of political candidates, as Miller seems in all ways to bet he perfect candidate. He’s motivated, he believes in the constitution, he’s likeable, he supports strong moral values, he agrees to freedom of speech and action. However, even a guy like Mike Miller can have a seedy underbelly.
Meyer's character is a true believer. He knows that Mike Miller is the only one who will really make a difference in people's lives, and this drives him to fight for Miller's campaign. However, Meyer's idealist views are shattered as he is exposed to the dirty side of politics during the film. While trying to determine his role in the system, he works to quickly mend any problems of Miller's campaign, as if it all falls apart, Meyer's career will be over. The more senior aids on the campaign can always get a job consulting in Washington, but the young Meyers will be hung out to dry if the campaign becomes a PR nightmare.
The Ides of March focuses only on a Democratic primary election. In this way it doesn’t choose sides in any political argument, but instead appeals to grander themes of politics and democracy than simply pointing the finger at the other party. The feuds which develop, particularly between the Senior Campaign Managers (Seymour-Hoffmann and Giametti) is an interesting one, these two go back a long time but are not hesitant to burn each other in the public eye. The Ides of March provides us with an interesting development of character. As Stephen views more and more of the political truth and scandal behind it, he metamorphoses from a political idealist into a colder realist.
Ryan Gosling gives a strong performance as Stephen Meyer the idealist media genius. Clooney is great as Mike Miller, he is very believable as the intelligent and likeable presidential candidate, and when things take a turn for the worse Cloonry displays the moral dilemmas Mike Miller faces with the deserved integrity and dignity of such a role. These performances, along with the strong writing, are what make The Ides of March an exceptional political film. It focuses on the themes of politics more than the individual stories of campaigners, differentiating it from other political movies. While both realistic and entertaining, it might make viewers think twice about the face validity of American politics.
Ryan Gosling gives a strong performance as Stephen Meyer the idealist media genius. Clooney is great as Mike Miller, he is very believable as the intelligent and likeable presidential candidate, and when things take a turn for the worse Cloonry displays the moral dilemmas Mike Miller faces with the deserved integrity and dignity of such a role. These performances, along with the strong writing, are what make The Ides of March an exceptional political film. It focuses on the themes of politics more than the individual stories of campaigners, differentiating it from other political movies. While both realistic and entertaining, it might make viewers think twice about the face validity of American politics.