The Ides of March

The Ides of March takes place during the frantic last days before a heavily contested Ohio presidential primary, when up-and-coming assistant campaign manager, Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) finds himself as the focal point of a political scandal that threatens to upend his candidate's shot at the presidency.  The film is an adaptation of Beau Willimon's 2008 play Farragut North, and you should go see it to how it all works out.

The term “Ides of March” is the name of the 15th of March in the Roman calendar, probably referring to the day of the full moon. In modern times, the term Ides of March is best known as the date that Julius Caesar was killed in 44 B.C. On his way to the Theatre of Pompey, Caesar visited a seer who had foretold that harm would come to him not later than the Ides of March. This meeting is famously dramatized in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, when Caesar is warned by the soothsayer to "beware the Ides of March”.  What any of this has to do with the film, I’ve not been able to determine…but it never hurts to have a little history before talking about Pizza and Beer. 

So on to the Rating:  This film gets two thirds of a pizza and half a pitcher of beer.  When I first came home from seeing this film, I told my wife that it was really, really good.  Over time, that enthusiasm has not lingered.  I saw it last week, so it has been a few days.  I still think it is a really good movie to see, it is entertaining for sure, it is just one that over time does not really stick with you, like Gosling’s other current film does (Drive – also reviewed on this blog – is one that I feel leaves you with something).

Time to meet the players:

The film is directed by George Clooney and he also is a co-writer (Beau Willimon is the other)…and Clooney is also one of the film’s stars – busy guy.  George Clooney’s character is Gov. Mike Morris, a Democratic candidate running for the Presidential nomination. As noted above, Ryan Gosling is one of the stars as well, actually, he is the lead actor and his character is Stephen Meyers, and if we are talking Academy Awards (which, while it was a good performance, I doubt a nomination is forthcoming).  I didn't put a picture of Gosling in as he is in each of the following, with the co stars...The other primary roles are as follows:

Molly Stern – Political Intern on the Morris campaign and daughter of the chairman of the DNC.  Molly is played by Evan Rachel Ward.  The film would be missing a very large plot vehicle if this character were not a part of it – I don’t want to give much away, as I think you should see the film, but there is definitely a Clinton/Lewinsky thing going on here. On a side note, Evan Rachel Ward is hot.  Not in a Angelina Jolie as Laura Croft in Tomb Raider kinda way, but more in a Scar Jo as Kay Lake in Black Dahlia kinda way.
Paul Phillip – Gov. Morris’ Campaign Manager.  Phillip is played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, recently of MoneyBall – he played the A’s Manager in that film; and it is amazing to me just how many really good movies this guy has been in…check him out on IMDb (Internet Movie Database) if you are not familiar with them.  Anyway, I’d say Hoffman does a very good job portraying the long time, grizzled campaign vet here.  He is jaded, cynical, smokes, and never is really straight with people, even though he is telling them he is.
Tom Duffy – Campaign Manager of the opponent.  Duffy is played by Paul Giamatti, another fine actor who is probably best known for his role in the acclaimed movie “Sideways” which I did not really like all that much.  It was a long time ago, and maybe my tastes have changed, but as I recall, it was just tedious to watch.  Here, he does a good job of getting into the political muck that is a campaign.  He knows how to play the game dirty, and he is not afraid to do so.
Ida Horowicz – Times Political Reporter.  Horowicz is played by Maria Tomei (see, I told you there were lots of stars in this film).  Horowicz is a grizzled veteran reporter of many elections.  She knows how the give and take game is played, and she is not afraid to “do what it takes” to get the story…even if it is not honest, and the story is not really accurate.  I just noticed that I’ve used “grizzled” in describing two of the main characters…and I’m not going to go back and change it, as it fits.  I guess you often hear the term “grizzled” when referring to political/campaign players.

One of my favorite quotes from the film:

Stephen Meyers: Were gonna be fine. We have to do it, it's the right thing to do and nothing bad happens when you’re doing the right thing.
Governor Mike Morris: Is this your personal theory? Cause I can shoot holes in it.

All in all, this is a taught, political thriller.  I liked it.  It is well acted, and it is well directed.