The Ides of March

After Good Night and Good Luck this is George Clooney’s second foray into the world of high politics, this time with topical significance: the American election is looming large and the Republican primary is underway.

The film is mostly set backstage, as we follow the shady dealings of various political advisers during a Democratic primary in Ohio. Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) and Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman) are part of Mike Morris's (Clooney) crack campaign team, and full of confidence for the impending election. But things go awry when Stephen realises that victory is not all that certain, and he receives an offer to join the opposite side.

The opening is full of promise; Meyers playfully rehearses Morris’s speech in an empty room, and suddenly we are shown the same room, with Morris delivering the speech to a cheering crowd. The scene is set; we are entering the cynical universe of high politics. Unfortunately, the promise fails to materialise and the film never goes beyond a superficial critique of politicians’ practices. Clooney fails to realise that most of us know how politics works, and how principles must be scrapped if one is to make it to the top. Yes, “politics is a dirty game”, and the art of political back-stabbing is alive and kicking, unlike Caesar.

On the plus side, the acting is excellent throughout, and justifies a viewing; Philip Seymour Hoffman is highly convincing as a bastion of virtue managing to keep his head above water amid a torrent of vice and corruption, best exemplified by the suitably vile Paul Giamatti.

REVIEWED AT FILMHOUSE