The Ides of March 2011

Nate H. reviewed The Ides of March (2011)

Review from the comment

With all the mudslinging going on currently in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, watching The Ides of March is like getting a reenactment of current events. In the movie, however, we are dealing with two Democrats and we barely see one of them. Largely, Ides deals with the fight for supremacy between the two candidates’ campaign teams and the treacherous ground they wage battle on. George Clooney is the favorite to win the nod and Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Ryan Gosling are the kings of his war room. The film does not center on Clooney as one would expect, however. Instead, the protagonist here is Gosling’s rising star who, although young for his position, is considered to be the genius behind the campaign’s curtain. When the head of the other camp (Paul Giamatti) asks for a secret meeting with Gosling, events unfold that give audiences a front and center view of the shadiness and backhandedness of the political landscape. It’s a shrewd world indeed, and it’s refreshing to watch a thriller that has no guns or bullets or even fistfights. That doesn’t mean there is a lack of action here though. The affairs of the road to the White House prove ample fodder for popcorn.