The Ides Of March | Film Review

Story by Greg Bright 

| Published Oct 11, 2011

As a viewer, you rarely realize how hard it is to make a truly realistic movie in Hollywood because, well, reality is a pretty boring and complicated thing. This is the challenge George Clooney faced with “The Ides of March,” a movie he directed and co-wrote, in addition to playing a supporting role. Clooney attempts to make a movie that portrays the reality of a political campaign, but also must must keep an audience enthralled for two hours. He more or less succeeds, especially with the latter.

The film follows Stephen Myers (Ryan Gosling), a campaign wunderkind working for Mike Morris (Clooney), the Governor of Pennsylvania and hopeful Democratic Presidential candidate. Myers is enthralled with Morris and believes he is the best candidate for President, and a man who can change the U.S.A for the better. However, this begins to change as Myers learns what a dirty world politics really is.

There is no denying that Clooney is a strong director, which he showcases here. He composes shots beautifully and the film is paced perfectly. He knows what events need to be shown and which ones are better left to the audience’s imagination.

As a writer, however, he doesn’t seem to know how to blend reality with entertainment. The film has a plethora of unnecessary melodramatic moments including (but not limited to) extramarital affairs, abortion, and suicide, which keep the film from being seen as realistic enough to get its point across with the emotional punch it needed.

Thoroughly entertaining and driven by some damn good performances, “The Ides of March” is easily worth the price of admission; but it had the potential to be a greater film.