Thursday, March 29, 2012

THE IDES OF MARCH

George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti
Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright


"Ambition seduces. Power corrupts."




This political thriller stars George Clooney as Governor Mike Morris, a Democrat presidential hopeful. Most of the suspense unfolds during the Ohio presidential primary. His team is headed by his campaign manager, Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his spokesman, Stephen Myers (Ryan Gosling), an idealist who is dragged into the dirty game of politics but his loyalty to the charismatic Governor Morris prevails at all cost.

As the writer and director, Clooney decided to present a simpler story about a man's character and the way he changes throughout the course of a single primary campaign.
The film is a comprehensive character study of Stephen Myers portrayed by the effectively talented Ryan Gosling. His Stephen is experienced enough at his age to presume that he knows better and young enough to still display the critical amount of conviction which gets the ball rolling.

It is fascinating to see the different sides to the Stephen character. He slowly becomes everything he loathed in politics and in a politician. Morris, his idol, full of values and ideologies that Steve believed in, betrayed them. His respect for Morris has gone. Towards the end, Myers learns to manipulate these flaws for the advancement of his career as well as boost the winning factor capacity of his candidate.

The storytelling is precise, the cinematography slick, the cast is highly credible. Even though there are a few glaring pitfalls in the side plots, the film still pulls the punches. Its criticism of the inner trappings of politics is apt yet it also provides the audience the opportunity to form their own conclusions from the ambiguous ending.

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