Directed by:
George ClooneyCinematography:
Phedon PapamichaelComposer:
Alexandre DesplatCast:
Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Max Minghella, Jeffrey Wright, Michael Mantell (more)Plots(1)
An idealistic staffer for a newbie presidential candidate gets a crash course on dirty politics during his stint on the campaign trail. Based on the play by Beau Willimon. (official distributor synopsis)
Videos (6)
Reviews (11)
Politics, psychology, intrigue, manipulation. It’s good, with excellent performances and a solid narrative value. It's just a shame that it's too short and therefore not very epic, but much more like television. In terms of atmosphere, Michael Clayton was slightly better and broader. Just when it was starting to get really suspenseful, the end came.
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A conflict of careerism versus loyalty in an easy-to-follow script with precise direction, leading to magnificent acting
performances. The Ides of March dispenses subplots and has fewer characters than we are accustomed to from similar
films, but this allows the movie to place more focus on its characters. That it looks more like a great HBO opus rather
than an ambitious cinema production is a failing only to the point that it’s enough to watch it at home (as opposed to
the more visually stunning and atmospheric Michael Clayton, which was more enjoyable on the big screen).
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George Clooney has proven many times in his directing endeavors that he is no stranger to sophistication, and a political investigation literally seemed like a treat for him. And yet I'm disappointed, and I must admit that I'm quite taken aback that there was no sophistication this time around. I expected him to dig into the highest-ranking politicians, but for the second half to labor through transparent twists towards disillusionment and broken hearts is too certain a step. Allowing the viewer to see into the fastest verbal machine guns and then easing towards morality is little more than a minor betrayal.
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I watched The Ides of March twice. I watched it for the second time mainly because I wanted to find out whether this movie was really boring or I just didn’t pay enough attention to it during the first watching. And I must say that even though the story is really interesting, I’m not in the mood to watch something that reminds me of the Czech government, where betrayal and revenge are part of the daily agenda of just about every political party. The actors were indisputably great. Ryan Gosling was amazing, even. That, however, doesn’t change the fact that this politics crap is not my cup of tea.
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Clooney is precise. All of the storylines are designed to the smallest detail, Gosling’s acting is excellent (he’s having a really good year right now) and even I would have chosen Clooney. The chess game is great to watch. The lesson of the story is somehow too classic and so there is nothing world-shattering about the Ides of March apart from well-made drama.
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Gallery (95)
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