The Ides of March (15)

Alison Rowat's Review

Like a candidate running for office, George Clooney’s political drama looks great, sounds the part, but on closer examination is not quite up to the mark.

Clooney plays governor Mike Morris, who is running for the Democratic nomination with the help of his press aides Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ryan Gosling (Drive).

Trying to get his man the nomination is rival spin doctor Paul Giamatti, while in the middle is Evan Rachel Wood’s naive intern.

Based on Beau Willimon’s play Farragut North, The Ides of March would very much like to be The West Wing when it grows up but is a bit of a guest bedroom into which Clooney crams ideas and characters we’ve seen many times before, like the Machiavellian press chief and the hard-nosed reporter.

As supposedly sharp political operators, the characters often act with all the nous of students running for Glee Club president. But hey, it all looks good and the endlessly cool Gosling shows he can now out-charm Clooney.

Paul Greenwood's Review

Ryan Gosling, who turned in great performances in the recent The Driver and Crazy Stupid Love, shines yet again in The Ides of March

In the race for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, Ryan Gosling is the youthful but experienced aide Stephen Meyers who sees his candidate, Governor Morris (George Clooney) as a messianic figure, but is he really just another politician?

It all kicks off when Meyers is approached by rival Paul Giamatti to come and work for his guy, something he doesn’t tell his boss, campaign manager Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Initially the joys come from these heavyweights pairing off against each other, and this would be compelling enough, since Gosling shines yet again, and you could watch Hoffman and Giamatti playing Monopoly for two hours.

Clooney only appears in short bursts as the smooth politico, but directs with economy in a film that’s talky but never dull and slick without being flashy.

But the layering of the tricks, the blackmail, the secrets and the deceit is when it truly grips in a phenomenal final third, as the full Shakespearean heft of the title becomes apparent, as does the price of a man’s soul.