George Clooney’s latest directorial effort, The Ides of March, centers on Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling), the idealistic junior campaign manager for Presidential Democratic nominee Governor Mike Morris (Clooney).
One night, Stephen is contacted by Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti), the campaign manager of Morris’ opponent, to meet with him at a sports bar.
Duffy offers Stephen a job on his campaign. Stephen turns him down. He begins an affair with Molly (Evan Rachel Wood), an intern while trying to keep his meeting with Tom a secret from Morris’ campaign manager, Paul Zara (Phillip Seymour Hoffman).
Both the affair and his meeting set-off a course of events that could greatly affect the Morris campaign. He finds himself the target of an ambitious political reporter
(Marisa Tomei) when someone leaks her information about his meeting with Tom.
After he learns Molly’s secret, Stephen asks himself, “Who is the real Mike Morris?” Is he the noble candidate with the broad vision that could put his country back on track? Or is he the man that could permanently oust Stephen from the political world?
It’s safe to say that as a director, Clooney doesn’t take prisoners when it comes to politicians and their staff members.
Gosling continues his hot streak with his role here. His enthusiasm and passion for Morris’ campaign comes through whether he’s in the campaign offices or having a meeting on the governor’s plane. He’s equally as strong when it comes to showing Stephen’s disappointment in Miller and desperation as he struggles to save his job.
Clooney’s mannerisms and precise speech patterns make him a convincing as a political candidate. Hoffman and Giamatti are perfectly cast as seasoned veterans of the political game. Tomei lays it on so thick with her “New Yawk” accent in her couple of scenes that she sounds like she’s channeling Fran Drescher. Wood is convincing when she’s seductive, but never comes off vulnerable enough to generate any sympathy.
Clooney brings mixed results as a thriller director. He manages to come up with some really tense moments especially at the film’s climax. I just wish he was more consistent with the film’s pace. He perfectly sets-up the story during the first ten minutes of the film then the story plods along until the story unravels.
Clooney also co-wrote the screenplay with Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon (who wrote the original play the film is based on) deliver when it comes to drama, but lacks the punch of classic political thrillers like 1962’s The Manchurian Candidate. The source of the leak isn’t a big surprise and Morris’ big secret comes right out of a course in Thriller 101.
The Ides of March isn’t Clooney’s best effort as a director, but his portrait of the dirty, underhanded world of political spin doctors could’ve come out at a better time especially with the presidential election just around the corner.