Big Screen Peter: The Ides of March

 

review by Peter Lewis

With political rhetoric echoing throughout America and financial uncertainty swirling across the globe, there seems no better time for the release of a gripping, astute political film.

“The Ides of March,” directed by George Clooney, is an adaptation of Beau Willimon’s acclaimed 2008 play, Farragut North, that seems destined for such cinematic resonance.

Clooney opens with a tight shot of Ryan Gosling (as Stephen Myers) standing at a podium. His gaze is direct as he details his views on religion. It’s not just his view, however. Rather, the speech is a preamble. As the view widens, we see the hustle and bustle of pre-debate preparations: Myers is merely readying the sound and stage for his boss, Gov, Mike Morris (Clooney).

From that opening scene, the audience is tossed into the frenetic, stress-filled world of campaigns. The backdrop of the film is the Democratic Presidential primaries. Morris is in a tight race with Ted Pullman (Michael Mantell), a veteran Senator from Arkansas, and his campaign is gaining steam as the Ohio primary approaches. With the race so close, both campaigns see the state as the key to winning the primary.

The movie falters in its premise, not in its execution. The scenes are well laid out and the acting is on key throughout.  Indeed, there is no dearth of acting talent. Apart from Clooney and Gosling, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti appear in the film as opposing campaign managers. While both have given life to a variety of roles, they are natural fits as grizzled, middle-aged vets of the Beltway.

Thematically, the movie is about a loss of innocence. Myers, the golden-hearted idealist with a firm belief in the candidate Morris, is a precocious politico. Despite being relatively youthful, he is far from green. A veteran of many campaigns, he’s set up as a whiz-kid that knows exactly how to play the game. But this purported back story is changed mid-stream. Myers trips up and his erstwhile assuredness has disappeared. Now he’s the bewildered innocent bumbling through an adult’s world.

Of course, this dissonant note could be reasoned away if his mistake were rooted in his blind adherence to Morris. However, the folly was purely political — something we were led to believe doesn’t happen to this whiz-kid.

Compounding things for Myers is his relationship with Molly Stearns, a 20-year-old intern that just so happens to be the daughter of the Democratic party chairman. Played by Evan Rachel Wood, Stearns appearance in the film is discordant. Even at 23 she seemed light-years beyond the exuberance of 20. Her self-assured nature was more in line with a noir sexpot than that of a college-aged intern.

There’s nothing so tricky to navigate as the post-coital highway. And as the clandestine affair between the pair progresses, Myers sinks deeper into the muck, desperately trying to keep his world together. As the movie comes to a close, the effects of the political world are in stark contrast. It’s an exceptional shot and well-built concept, but it’s not enough.

The Ides of March is billed as a political thriller. And with such an ominous name, one would expect more thrill, but it is resolutely lacking in that aspect. Instead, it plods forward, step by step as deceit and emptiness spread like a contagion from that opening scene. It’s not an uninteresting movie, just missing credible drama between the wonderfully bookended shots.

• The Ides of March is playing at the Carmike 14, the Malco Cinema 16 in Fort Smith, and the Malco Van Buren Cinema. Link here for time and ticket info.

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