The Ides of March
Columbia Pictures, 2011
Directed by George Clooney
Starring: Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Four stars
Right from the opening moments of George Clooney's Oscar baiting feature The Ides of March, it's clear the audience is in for a ride. Even before walking into the theater, I personally had a ton of anticipation for this film: sure, it's plot sounded intriguing, and Clooney has proven to be an interesting actor/director over the years, but the most immediately notable thing about The Ides of March is it's cast, which features several Oscar winners (and even more nominees), and altogether some of the most respected names in Hollywood. The first actor to make an appearance in this film is Ryan Gosling, an actor who is quickly climbing up my list of favorites in all of film. Gosling's character, Stephen Meyers, speaks a few lines of a Presidential Debate speech to an empty auditorium and right away, our attention is in his hands.
Though Clooney's Govenor Mike Morris is essentially the central character here, the Presidential candidate who proves the impetus for everything about to take place in this film (and his performance is quite good, reminiscent at times of his career-best work in Michael Clayton) it's fantastically interesting (and a bit symbolic) how quickly Gosling steals the show as the brilliant young political mind working behind the scenes. It calls to mind a facet of the political machine I've found particularly troubling in recent years: that we have a President who is supposedly our leader, but the minds and voices that impact our lives the most our those of the unknown people working in the shadows, just out of sight. Philip Seymour Hoffman's Paul Zara is another one of these, the head of Morris's campaign who constantly seems to be leaking information to the press to advance his candidate's image, namely to reporter Ida Horowicz (portrayed by the always-solid Marisa Tomei). Hoffman, who has become one of my favorite actors due to his work in a myriad of roles, ranging from legendary music critic Lester Bangs in the flawless Almost Famous, to his forceful turn as an accused priest in Doubt, to a fascinating performance as the central character in the dense and mystifying Synecdoche, New York, all the way to his role as an uncooperative baseball manager in this year's Moneyball, is dependably great here as a politician who prizes loyalty above all else, and his mentor-student relationship with Gosling's Stephen is a joy to watch thrive and crumble on screen.
As the film opens, everything seems to be going well. Morris puts on a crowd-pleasing show during the debate as the election hurtles toward the Ohio primary (to take place on March 15th, giving the film it's name), which could tip the scales either way. Gosling plays Stephen with a wide eyed enthusiasm, and he states early on that he believes Morris is the real deal: the kind of guy he's been waiting to throw his weight behind for his entire career, the kind of guy who can really go all the way and not only get him a job working in the White House, but be the President who's really going to change something. He begins a relationship with intern Molly Stearns (played by Evan Rachel Wood, who's chemistry with Gosling is electric). Then, Stephen gets a call from rival campaign manager Tom Duffy (an ominously terrific Paul Giamatti) and everything starts to unravel. Duffy has an ace up his sleeve in the election and wants Stephen to come work for him, throwing him into a crisis of conscience. He leaves the meeting planning to redouble his efforts, to do anything to get Morris into office, but he's soon blindsided by a discovery that sends the whole house of cards tumbling down and forces him to realize that his idealistic picture of Morris and of the entire political machine was just smoke and mirrors from the start.
The Ides of March paints a bleak picture of the American political system, of a world where the characters are willing to destroy the lives of their rivals (or indeed, those they once called friends) in order to get ahead themselves, a world where those who want to get the job have to sacrifice or compromise their beliefs, and a world where the innocent people get trampled. Even at the end, as one character find himself holding all the cards, having doled out revenge to those who "wronged" him and assured himself a big job and a lot of money, it's almost tragically clear that nobody has won. Clooney's final shot, the most striking and unforgettable moment of the entire film, symbolizes all of that and so much more. And though none of these ideas are new, Clooney and his cast portray them all in a strikingly dark and refreshing light that feels almost essential in this economic and political mess we find ourselves in today. The film is fiction, but the themes are most certainly not.
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Even in this tremendously talented cast, Gosling rather easily owns the film. His role sits in complete contrast to his other two characters this year (one as a smooth talking womanizer in a Crazy, Stupid, Love, the other as a stoic wheelman-turned-killer in Drive), but draws similarities to his performance in last year's Blue Valentine, a performance I still maintain he should have won an Oscar for. In both films, his character begins as a naive young man, full of life, but becomes broken and cynical as hardships pile up on top of him. It's the stuff of a Springsteen song, and Gosling plays it better than just about any actor alive could; he should at very least earn an Oscar nomination for the feat, if not a victory. His character arc is what gives The Ides of March it's heartbeat; it's what makes the big twist so shocking and what makes the ending heartbreaking. It's arguably the best performance of the year, in what is one of the four or five best films. Come Oscar time, whether or not this film proves to be a big winner, and whether or not Gosling earns his first Oscar, it's still a film I will personally remember and watch for years to come, and Gosling is the actor to watch; there might not be a more talented person working in Hollywood today.
