Pauls Valley, Oklahoma —
Whether those of us who think we really know so much about the world will admit it or not, there are situations where the cliché ‘ignorance is bliss’ applies. As another presidential primary clicks along with candidates more cartoon than human, it reminds me again how politics may be the most qualified example.
This movie hit the rental shelves just in time for the every-four-year circus and shows how the more you know about the slimy process, the less chance you can ever mentally scrub away what you have discovered. As far as political commentaries I still prefer a good satire over the sobering type of drama in this offering, but it does enough to at least keep audiences interested. “The Ides of March” didn’t quite strike me as good enough to be in the snubbed Oscar category, but the one nomination for adapted screen play does make for good reading if one wishes to find out more about the stage production (Farragut North) it is based on.
The main theme is set during a democratic presidential primary and focuses on a up-and-coming deputy campaign manager named Stephen Myers (Ryan Gosling). To no surprise he has not only bought the campaign he is helping sell for Pennsylvania Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney), he doesn’t bother to see when he’s being used until it is too late.
It seems he must learn every lesson the hard way, and is soon caught between not following the advice of Senior Campaign Manager Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and the competing manager Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) doing a little of his own puppet game. Instead of doing the smart thing and getting out of the whole corrupt situation, he only gets further sucked into sacrificing value for the sake of something he has no faith in. What this film does well more than anything else is show how easily the election process is manipulated and how little votes matter in the grand scheme.
While I don’t feel to compelled to watch this again anytime soon, it would make for good discussion in any mass media or high school government related class. Other than that, it doesn’t do much to reach out to audiences, other than perhaps a few cynical adults.
I should point out that this should not discourage people from trying to actually make this nation a better place, but maybe you should hold off watching this flick so it doesn’t act as a reason to give up. Still, kudos for Clooney for what is a decent job and if he ever stops acting he’s got a future in pretending to care about constituents. Final Verdict: Three out of five scandals for “The Ides of March.”
DVD rental courtesy of Family Video of Pauls Valley.
Movie Reviews
Related Photos
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Artwork for "The Ides of March," now on DVD. Columbia Pictures, Smokehouse Pictures.
Discussion
‘Ides of March’ almost too close to election truth
DVD Review
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