"The Ides of March"

Reviewed by Danny the Demented
Updated 5 December 2011


It's almost as if I needed more ammo to be jealous of George "I have everything and can do everything" Clooney, along comes "The Ides of March", a political thriller about a presidential primary within the Democratic Party where a young upstart junior campaign manager named Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) has to figure out how to survive the backstabbing and the bloodshed in order to achieve his ideals which he believes will change the nation for the better. 

The story itself really isn't intriguing enough to power itself en route to success. In fact, without its cast, the movie is at best a mediocre one. The plot line is more or less predictable and the twist, if it can be called one, lacks drama and tension. When the inevitable crisis happened, one is more intrigued on almost anything else happening in the movie than the crisis itself, and if the crisis couldnt take center stage when it is supposed to, than something needs fixing. Furthermore, the audience is never told why Gov Morris (Glooney) is supposed to be the savior and why Meyers believes in him with such ruthless conviction that he is willing to go as far as to compromise his own moral to help Morris take office. There are too many whys without enough answers, and that leaves the story effective, but just barely.

But star power means something in this star craving world of ours and with the hottest young actor around Ryan Gosling as well as George Clooney, the film really couldnt fail. Ryan Gosling (from the famed Canadian tv series Breaker High, my goodness he sure has come a long way) proves once again that he is a mega star in the making. Just by simply looking at his face you get the feeling that something more is going on than what meets the eyes, and that "something" is worth sitting through the entire movie for. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti are flawless as always. If you want to see quality movies, here's a little tip: watch anything with these two in it, and you are guaranteed a great scene or more. It's a crime these two perennial acting powerhouse arent bigger than they are. And of course, George Clooney. All he had to do is just stand there and people will pay to watch him standing. Some fellow has all the luck.

"The Ides of March" is by no means a great movie, but it is powered solely on very very strong acting, and that is enough for me. My name is Danny and I endorse this message.