The Ides of March

Reviews from the Dark Side presents
The Ides of March
Released October 7, 2011.  Now on DVD

I'm not usually crazy about political dramas, so I entered my viewing of The Ides of March with some trepidation.  The movie stars Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, and Evan Rachel Wood and is inspired by the real life experiences of an aide who worked on Howard Dean's 2004 presidential run.  Clooney also directed. 

The film starts at an Ohio debate between Pennsylvania Governor Mike Morris (Clooney) and Arkansas Senator Ted Pullman.  Both are vying for the Democratic presidential nomination with Morris holding a tentative lead.  Stephen Meyers (Gosling) and Paul Zara (Hoffman) are Morris' junior and senior campaign managers respectively.  Paul is an old war horse that has advised in several campaigns during his career.  He knows the dirty politics that must be played to win.  He's also a bit paranoid and values loyalty above everything.  Stephen is an idealistic consultant who, while not naive, believes in his candidate wholeheartedly.  He begins a physical relationship with intern, Molly Stearns (Wood) in Morris' campaign.  Molly also happens to be the daughter of the Democratic National Committee Chairman, Jack Stearns (Gregory Itzin.  Remember him from 24?).  Both candidates covet the support of powerful U. S. Senator, Franklin Thompson (Wright).  His 300+ delegates will change the tide of the campaign in either candidate's favor. 

After the debate, Stephen is contacted by Pullman's campaign manager, Tom Duffy (Giamatti) to meet at a secluded Cincinnati bar to "talk."  Against his better judgement, Stephen accepts.  Stephen doesn't tell Paul about this meeting when questioned. Tom offers Stephen a job on Pullman's campaign since the young consultant is smart and has great potential.  Tom says that Pullman already has Thompson's support due to a promise to make Thompson Secretary of State if elected.  With the Senator's support, Pullman is sure to take the primary in Ohio and the next in North Carolina.  Stephen refuses the offer, in part due to Paul's future meeting with Thompson to wrangle the Senator's support for Morris.  Paul tends to get what he wants.  However, Thompson wants the same deal from Morris which Morris is unwilling to give. 

Matters start to spiral out of control for Stephen on a dalliance with Molly.  While Stephen is working in bed next to a sleeping Molly, she receives a strange call on her cell.  Stephen mistakenly answers it believing the phone to be his since the two are identical.  The caller hangs up.  Stephen playfully asks Molly who could be calling at 2:30 a.m. and dials the caller back under Molly's vehement protest.  Then Stephen receives his realization when there is an answer on the other end.  Prior to her relationship with Stephen, Molly slept with a prominent member of the Morris campaign and is now pregnant.  As if matters couldn't become worse, someone has leaked his meeting with Tom Duffy to Ira Horowicz (Tomei) at the New York Times.  Ira has a working relationship with both Paul and Stephen, so she gives Stephen a chance to come clean on the details of his meeting before she has her own version printed.  When Stephen refuses she blackmails him and gives a deadline before her story goes to print.  Stephen logically thinks it is Tom who leaked the story.  Tom protests and tells him  that he has just as much to lose.  Stephen discovers it is Paul who leaked the story.  Paul was not thrilled when Stephen admitted days earlier that he met with Tom.  Since Paul says he can no longer trust Stephen, the leaked story gives him ample reason to fire Stephen with Morris's approval.  When Molly hears of Stephen's firing from an aide, she mistakenly believes it is due to her situation and makes a rash decision.  How is Stephen going to turn the odds back in his favor?  Will he accept his fate or learn how to play the game with the other sharks? 

As I stated earlier, I am not fond of political dramas, but I was pleasantly surprised by this one.  There are very good performances by all involved.  Ryan Gosling's expression at the end of the movie is a portrait of a man whose soul is broken and is not the better for the things he had to do attempting to swing the odds.  Most of the major players are pleasingly corrupt as the movie does not sugarcoat the games politicians play to gain the advantage.  Idealism is difficult, if not impossible, to maintain when you are dealing with cutthroats.  This is a good watch.  I would also urge viewers not to look at this movie as one party's ideals over the other's.  That is not what this is about.  These are the pitfalls any campaign can encounter no matter what your ideology.

The Dark Lord of the Sith says:

***1/4 stars

Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee. Buy this on DVD when released!
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here. Get this DVD goes without saying.