The Ides of March (2011, movie review)
Oh Ryan Gosling, what CAN’T you do? And George Clooney, I used to dismiss you SO easily because you were, you know, the man every single heterosexual woman wanted to marry. But I have to bow at both of you. Gosling, delivering an amazing performance as a brooding, determined, narrowly-focused and single-minded junior campaign manager who places his heart, soul and life in the hands of Governor Morris, a lovable George Clooney who plays the role of affable, bright, relentless and (to the best of our knowledge) incorruptible Democrat politician seeking the Presidency of The United States of America.
Against all my predictions, The Ides of March did exactly what I thought it would do *if* it was going to be a good movie: it kept me guessing, it kept me IN the movie. So much so that when it ended I turned around and told JT “huh? I could have stayed in my seat another 3 hours…”. Marisa Tomei plays a fantastic role as Ida, seasoned reporter covering the campaign trail who pushes Stephen (Gosling) to give her exclusives. Given my experience and emerging relationships with policy makers, politicians and journalists, I can totally see where Tomei’s Ida takes her cues.
While 150%-US-centric, The Ides of March provides an interesting look at the dirty politics behind political campaigns, and how being naive and innocent doesn’t always allow the good boy to win the girl, the movie and the bounty. The movie’s star-studded cast is rounded up with Paul Giammati as the opposing camp’s campaign manager, Actor-in-a-Leading-Role-Oscar-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman (who like Meryl Streep is an acting machine) and Evan Rachel Wood (who is in the big acting leagues much as Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes and may be the next Hilary Swank) is the intern who wants to play with the big boys in the dirty politics world but is still a bit too naive.
I was telling JT that, having analyzed a few political campaigns of my own, I can totally relate to the thrill, the dialogues, the “we won here but we lost votes there, so we need to play the numbers game” conversations. Honestly, much as I am a public policy analyst, I do love me some electoral politics.
From the IMD website:
An idealistic staffer for a newbie presidential candidate gets a crash course on dirty politics during his stint on the campaign trail.
While I find it’s a bit steep to pay $15 for a movie anywhere in Vancouver (I paid $12.75) it was nice to see Gosling play a challenging role: the naive, idealistic junior campaign manager who learns the dirty moves while submerged in a sea of blackmail, betrayal, misinformation and power struggles. Worth watching.
Disclosure: I paid for both of our tickets to the movie on my own dime.
