The Ides of March: Film poster
Opening the Venice film festival this year is The Ides of March, a political thriller starring George Clooney – who also co-wrote and directed. He plays Mike Morris, a state governor running for a Democratic presidential nomination. Betrayal and ideology are key themes as the race hots up and loyalties are questioned as Morris is caught out having a one-night stand with a young intern (Monica Lewinsky, anyone?) The film is based on Farragut North, a play by Beau Willimon.
- Barnstorming. David Gritten on The Daily Telegraph said it “engages the brain within the context of a solid entertainment.” Clooney has “natural relaxed charm”, but the crucial role is the press secretary, Stephen Meyers, played by Ryan Gosling with “deadpan, icy conviction.” It shows, too, real knowledge about “the nuts and blots [sic] of political campaigns.” There’s some “barnstorming” support roles from Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti and Evan Rachel Wood. The only problem is that “its ending feels too neat, ingenious and labyrinthine for the essentially realistic story that precedes it.”
- Compromise? Sure, said Xan Brooks in The Guardian, it’s a “handsome” thriller. But as an opener, it’s “your classic compromise candidate: a film that set out with a crusading zeal but had its rough edges planed down en route to the nomination.”
- Swimming with the sharks. Whatculture.com said Clooney gives us a “realistic” world. It’s “a good reminder that we live in a world that desperately needs to change and that it is real hard to live among sharks.” The film isn’t “quite the classic we had hoped”, but it’s still “timely.”
