Oscar Watch! The Ides of March returns to theaters -

By Tommy Bond, Film Critic

In an age when political campaigns start earlier and earlier, making a film about the inner workings of a democratic primary campaign seems like a good idea. What’s generally not a good idea is for a film to be carried entirely on dialogue. The Ides of March is George Clooney’s intense study of politics, putting the cinematic microscope over a governor’s campaign to become the democratic candidate in the upcoming presidential election, and yes, this film is heavy on the talking.

But when you watch this film, you won’t notice it. You’ll be too swept up in the whirlwind world of politics too even have time to care. In the cruel game to get elected, anything goes as long as you can keep it quiet, and if you slow down, no one will stop to pick you up.

Ryan Gosling plays the hotshot political advisor, Stephen Meyers, the guy behind Governor Mike Morris’s brilliant political campaign. He knows every single detail about every single issue. He manipulates the governor to the point that Morris (played by Clooney) becomes less than human, amounting to a mere mass of sound-bites and false promises-whatever it takes to win him the White House. Meyers does it all while projecting an aura of cool, calm, and suave. During the setup for a debate, he insists that the podiums be raised so that Morris can read his notes. However, the way in which the taller podiums seem to dwarf Morris’s already short opponent seem to curiously suggest that Morris may not actually have eye problems. It’s a glimpse of Meyers’ callused morals that slowly begin to surface as the film progresses, and it’s this potential for ingenious ruthlessness that has the competition scared and desperate. They ask to recruit him, and he meets with them but declines the offer. Seems innocent enough. But things are never as they seem and there are always ulterior motives in this cutthroat world, and the meeting soon becomes the hot news topic of the week. Then all hell breaks loose.

In the way Moneyball managed to make statistics seem riveting, here Clooney finds a similar style and pacing, and pulls from his actors performances so fiery and intense that a gaze is as powerful as any explosion. A biting line of dialogue hits as hard as any spray of gunfire, and the implications are far worse than mere physical harm. The Ides of March is the antithesis of “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” No, words can do more than hurt. They can ruin careers and, as at the height of this film, take a life.

As Meyers wades through the carnage of the political arena, we meet a slew of two-faced characters, including Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Woods, Marisa Tomei, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, all of them giving such strong performances that an Oscar nomination is all but guaranteed to emerge from the group. The fierce conversations that take place between these men and women are so taught that a feather could set them over the edge, and every single utterance is loaded with disguised deceit. Alongside the sharp-but-naive Meyers we realizethat absolutely no one loves to work in politics. But no one can get out easy, either.

Clooney excels in front of the camera, as well as behind it, delivering a towering performance as the governor. He is as two-faced as they come, and he makes no apologies for it. He, like so many, was “seduced by ambition, but corrupted by power.” He is a reflection of things to come for Gosling’s character, the one man who still has a shred of dignity left among the wolves. Gosling’s performance is simply electric. He plays Meyers with such conviction, such passion, that one may forget that he was once a dancing football player in the 70’s. They grow up so fast.

The Ides of March could come off as a chance for some highly publicized liberal propaganda, especially with outspoken Clooney at the helm. But by boldly focusing on the rarely seen dark side of the political machine, he wisely crushes any argument that this film is pushing an agenda. If anything, this film could be a conservative attempt to make liberals look bad. But it’s really not that either, so breathe easy all you PC snobs.

The film is ultimately a descent into a maddening, spiraling web of lies and deceit, and the personal look at what it can do to one man’s will to do what’s right. Can a man’s ideals still win a campaign, or is it all up to spin city?

The chilling last shot of the film answers that question in resounding fashion.