I‘m going to tell you something that might surprise you: George Clooney has made a movie about politics and the Republicans aren’t the bad guys. Of course, “The Ides of March” is about a (fictional) Democratic primary, so Republicans don’t actually feature as characters. Still, the man almost as well known for his liberal political views as his determined bachelorhood has directed a smart, utterly unsentimental look at party politics that should be familiar to Washington elites on both sides of the divide.
Clooney also stars, as an underdog presidential candidate whose ideology-driven campaign is starting to eclipse that of his rival. Ryan Gosling is the brains behind it, a young go-getter working under a PR guru played by Philip Seymour Hoffman.
| On screen |
| 3 out of 4 stars |
| Stars: Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Evan Rachel Wood |
| Director: George Clooney |
| Rated: R for pervasive language |
| Running time: 101 minutes |
Like the man whom he’s trying to get elected, Gosling is also starting to steal the thunder from a more experienced professional. Though he’s a sharp player, he’s in it not because he thinks his guy can win, but because he thinks his guy is right. “You’ve drunk the Kool-Aid,” laughs Marisa Tomei, dialing down the sultriness to play a New York Times reporter. “I have drunk,” Gosling agrees. “It’s delicious.”
That doesn’t mean, of course, he advises Clooney to tell it like he sees it. As Gosling notes sarcastically during a foreign-policy discussion, explaining the candidate’s real views on the war on terror would be akin to announcing, “Hi, I’m Neville Chamberlain, I’d like to be your commander in chief.”
But how far would Gosling go to get the right man elected? How much of his idealism would he be willing to slough off? The question becomes urgent when he discovers that the man he so admires is not so admirable after all. Then the stage is set for a cunning drama in which the political becomes personal, not just for the candidate, but for Gosling’s own future.
That stage metaphor is an apt one, as “The Ides of March” is very playlike: It’s based on the stage show “Farragut North” by Beau Willimon. But that feeling doesn’t harm the film, as Clooney stages all the confrontations — the movie is full of them — with a deft hand.
His own acting is pitch-perfect, of course, even when he says ridiculous things, such as his promise that no new cars would run on combustion engines under his administration. Evan Rachel Wood, who plays a young intern charmed by Gosling but with important connections of her own, should also be singled out for her hard work keeping up with him and the other vets in the cast.
But this is Gosling’s year. First the not-that-noticed actor stole scenes from Steve Carell as the ladies’ man in “Crazy, Stupid, Love.” Then he told a man’s history with just the steely determination on his face in “Drive.” “Ides” is more about him than it is about Clooney’s candidate and he carries the film with the aplomb of the best politicians.
