Clooney’s “Ides of March ” a triumph
George Clooney's Ides of March
Be aware “The Ides of March,” written by George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon, based on Willimon’s play “Farragut North,” and masterfully directed by Clooney. Be aware that it is a challenging, intelligent, extraordinary movie, one that should and, I’m sure, will enter the rarified collection of “classic” movies concerning the American election process that includes “The Best Man,” “All the King’s Men,” “The Contender,” “Primary Colors,” “Wag the Dog,” “State of the Union” and “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”
Governor Mike Morris (a charismatic and convincing George Clooney), running for President, is locked in a heated Ohio primary with his only real rival, Senator Pullman. Paul Zara (the subtly brilliant Philip Seymour Hoffman) is the governor’s jaded, cynical campaign manager who sees the big picture and is out there making the deals to get his guy elected; next election it will be to get some other guy elected. Stephen Myers (a mesmerizing Ryan Gosling) is the governor’s wunderkind media coordinator and a true believer in Morris’s platform of wealth distribution, underclass safety net and education. The difference between Zara and Myers is put succinctly by Morris when he states that he expects Zara to run the campaign and make the right political choices to get him elected; he expects Myers to tell him the truth. And this is the lynch pin to the film – What are the right choices? What is the truth?
Traveling in the highest circles, attracting attention for his expertise, dogged by the press for comments, the 30-year-old Myers is, nonetheless, surprised to receive a phone call requesting a meeting from Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti in a Paul Giamatti role), Senator Pullman’s campaign manager. Pride, flattery and curiosity trumps ambivalence and ethics and Myers agrees to the secret meeting. Duffy wants Myers to jump ship and join Senator Pullman’s team, revealing just enough campaign secrets and strategies that Myers begins to doubt whether Morris, the leading candidate – his candidate – can actually win. Myers should immediately let Zara know of his breach, because aside from the critical campaign information that could help Morris, the meeting was, at the very least, bordering on unethical; at its worst it was a betrayal of trust and loyalty. Young Mr. Myers has been strategically backed into a corner by Mr. Duffy and how he handles the inevitable backdraft is the crux of the film and the unraveling of the protagonist. A tryst with a beautiful young intern reveals information that Morris is more humanly flawed than he appeared to be is the final thread on an already unraveling woven tapestry for Myer, who, under pressure, is forced to make another series of decisions that will have a major impact on himself and others.
In Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” Caesar is warned by a soothsayer, “Beware the Ides of March” on the day he will be assassinated by a group of conspirators led by Cassius and Brutus, one of his closest friends in the Senate. Clooney’s “Ides of March” is positively Shakespearean with regard to truth, friendship, loyalty and betrayal. As a director, he has never been more self assured, giving this political morality play the pacing of a gut-wrenching thriller which is underscored dramatically by Alexandre Desplat’s original music. Do not miss this one. Now playing at the ArcLight Beach Cities and the AMC Galleria at South Bay. ER