Review of The Ides of March (2011) by Pj P — 09 Dec 2012

Perhaps not very revelatory, this is an expertly crafted and executed political drama. Clooney's too-good-to-be-true Democratic candidate becomes all-too-true flawed and compromised as he gains the certain promise of his party's nomination. Convincingly delineated is the transformation of idealistic junior campaign manager Stephen Myers (Ryan Gosling) into a ruthless and ambitious manipulator, a result of his own ruthless manipulation by others, unwise sex, and random discovery you can almost see his horns growing.

It used to be the case that during these regular American political jamborees 'unsafe sex' was what you had with someone not in your own campaign team. Only with other members of the term was it possible to have 'safe sex'. Not here, baby. The candidate, Governor Mike Morris (Clooney), an attractive young intern called Molly (Evan Rachel Wood) and Myers lose, in no particular order, life, integrity and probably an immortal soul, as a result of ill-considered coupling. Basically, don't fuck the interns - no, no blow jobs either.

The 'Ides of March' is slow to start, but probably rightly so, with some neat transformations of goodies into baddies and vice versa; some breathtakingly cynical (if credible) gamesmanship and a nice illustration of how messy compromise might be brought about. Of course we never know for sure what caused the ones which happened in real life.