By snoadmin
Politics. Secrets. Drama. “The Ides of March” is a film that shows politics have no limit.
Stephen Myers (Ryan Gosling) is a junior campaign manager who parttakes in organizing his candidate’s campaign strategy. Stephen’s candidate, Mike Morris (George Clooney), is the governor of Pennsylvania running as a Democratic presidential candidate against Sen. Ted Pullman (Michael Mantell) of Arkansas.
Stephen believes that Mike is a great candidate with solid ideas on improving the country. He and his senior campaign manager Paul Zara (Phillip Seymor Hoffman) focus on getting the vote from Ohio for Mike, so that he can be nominated for president.
At first, nothing is out of the ordinary. Mike is leading in the polls and Ohio seems like a lock for his votes. But unexpectedly, events occur that put Mike in a very tight position, which places his nomination and win over Ohio in question. That is when Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) calls Stephen to offer him to switch sides and campaign for Sen. Pullman. Through many ranges of events, Stephen is thrown between staying loyal to his campaign, whilst finding out secrets and stories that could completely take Mike out of the race.
Gosling does an extraordinary job portraying Stephen. He shows a charismatic, intelligent young man who is trying his best to do his job. He comes up with campaign ideas that are smart decisions for Mike, and is dedicated to the campaign. When betrayal and disaster strikes for his career, Stephen turns completely. He becomes unstable and upset and seems to fall in a downward spiral. Gosling is able to display this change in character magnificently. His ability to go from happy-go-lucky to serious and dominant as a man is an exceptional art. Stephen’s character, through his quick-witted thinking and intelligent mind, is able to arrange a turn of events that leaves the audience thinking for hours afterward how intricately and precisely he was able to get what he wanted, and Gosling is accurate able to portray this onscreen.
Clooney also delivers an amazing performance. His character has strong, solid values that could make the country a better place to benefit everyone. He also has a good marriage with his wife, and seems to be a kind and smart man. Clooney is able to portray this good-heartedness in his character with his charming personality and all-good-doer attitude. However, things also take a twisted turn for Mike when some unexpected news comes forward. This also forces Clooney to portray a different side of Mike that has not yet been seen. Mike becomes fierce and domineering in a way that makes the audience question his true values. Clooney displays this well in his character through his notable performance of being the more dominant man in this movie.
Both actors show exemplary performances through their characters. Through their serious, yet calm and collected roles they each play the good guy/bad guy role very well.
Evan Rachel Wood, as Molly Stearns, also shows a noteworthy performance. Wood portrays an intern for the Mike Campaign and daughter of Jack Stearns, the chairman of the Democractic National Committee. Molly is a 20-year-old woman, who has an interest in politics but bigger interests in older men.
With Molly, Wood plays a sultry character that she characterizes perfectly. Her laid-back, yet confident attitude adds a little kick to her alluring presence. Her performance is a nice contrast to the seriousness and fierceness of Clooney’s and Gosling’s characters.
This dramatic, suspenseful film has a wonderful cast, and original storyline. It will take viewers for a ride of thinking both politically and morally, juggling with the line between what is right and what is going too far.
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