The Ides of March

The Ides of March:

This has been my favorite film of the last year. Though the material may be perhaps a bit dated and overdone, it was still a chilling film that makes you wonder about every single elected politician and whatever secrets they have hidden.

                George Clooney portrays Mike Morris a senator who is campaigning to be the next democratic presidential candidate. Ryan Gosling charms as Stephen Moyer the young, eager campaign manager who grows up and sees that no one is perfect, and this time it actually affects him. He delivers a winning performance. Also excellent is Evan Rachel Wood, another young, eager woman working for Morris’s campaign, with tragic results. In support, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti excel as a reporter, another senator, the head of Morris’s campaign and the head of the competitor’s campaign, respectively.

                To some, the movie may have been predictable, but to me, it was not. It shows how horribly easy deception is, and not just to the public, but to other family members as well. And throughout the film, there is more than enough blackmail and double-crosses. Stephen’s secret meeting with the enemy is revealed to the public, but by someone who he least suspected, and to get back everything he once had, he uses blackmail despite having no proof of his own, it is merely his word against the other’s. But in the end, Stephen is not a winner, his face is completely void of all emotions, perhaps that’s because he is no longer naïve, he has seen the cruel, ugly world, and he didn’t like it.

                Ryan Gosling gives an exceptional performance as Stephen and is certainly the best actor in the film, though George Clooney doesn’t disappoint as the seemingly perfect senator who has a dark secret. Evan Rachel Wood is also great as the woman whose actions lead to her own demise. Grade: A