The Ides of March (2011)

An idealistic staffer for a new presidential candidate gets a crash course on dirty politics during his stint on the campaign trail.

Director:

George Clooney

Writers:

George Clooney (screenplay), Grant Heslov (screenplay)

Stars:

Paul Giamatti, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 9 wins & 34 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ryan Gosling	...	Stephen Meyers
George Clooney	...	Governor Mike Morris
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Paul Zara
Paul Giamatti	...	Tom Duffy
Evan Rachel Wood	...	Molly Stearns
Marisa Tomei	...	Ida Horowicz
Jeffrey Wright	...	Senator Thompson
Max Minghella	...	Ben Harpen
Jennifer Ehle	...	Cindy Morris
Gregory Itzin	...	Jack Stearns
Michael Mantell	...	Senator Pullman
Yuri Sardarov	...	Mike (as Yuriy Sardarov)
Bella Ivory	...	Jenny
Maya Sayre	...	Sue
Danny Mooney	...	Campaign Editor

Storyline

Stephen Meyers is a young idealist who's brilliant at communications, is second in command of Governor Mike Morris's presidential campaign, and is a true believer. In the middle of the Ohio primary, the campaign manager of Morris's opponent asks Meyers to meet; he offers him a job. At the same time, Morris's negotiations for the endorsement of the man in third place, a North Carolina Senator, hit a snag. A young campaign intern, Molly Stearns, gets Stephen's romantic attention. Republicans have a trick up their sleeve; Stephen may be too trusting, and Molly has a secret. What's most important, career, victory, or virtue?

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Plot Keywords:

ohio | manager | intern | governor | politics | 

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Taglines:

Ambition seduces. Power corrupts.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [France]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Farragut North

Filming Locations:

Oxford, Ohio, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$12,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$10,470,143 (USA) (7 October 2011)

Gross:

$40,962,534 (USA) (6 January 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cross Creek Pictures, Exclusive Media Group, Smokehouse Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film's cast includes three Oscar winners: George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Marisa Tomei and two Oscar nominees: Ryan Gosling and Paul Giamatti.

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Goofs

Ohio is a two license plate state. All the vehicles in Ohio are missing the front license plate.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Stephen Meyers: I'm not a Christian. I'm not an Atheist. I'm not Jewish. I'm not Muslim. My religion, what I believe in is called the Constitution of United States of America.

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Connections

Referenced in Bad Movie Beatdown: Review of 2011 (2012)

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Soundtracks

Angel Eyes
Written by Earl K. Brent (as Earl Brent) and Matt Dennis

User Reviews

Worth it, but funny aftertaste....

It's difficult to write a review about this film. It's so full of contradictions (artistic and otherwise) that it leaves you with a funny aftertaste. The film is about an idealistic young man working as a consultant for a campaigning politician and the conflicts and dichotomies he has to face if he wants to remain whole and with his integrity unbroken. Purely from the filmmaking standpoint, the movie will remind you of political thrillers of the 70s made by Alan J. Pakula or Sydney Pollack. It's beautifully shot, has a great script, a very ad-hoc music score, great performances by everyone involved. The way the story and main character evolved, however, lacked coherence and at one point I was under the impression I was watching a fragment of a different movie. Somehow it went from A to D, skipping B and C altogether. That alone changed my viewing experience from fully satisfying to one that, as I said at the beginning, left a funny aftertaste. The movie is more of a character study than a political thriller per se; as the former, it works mainly because of the performances by actors who are able to convey the inner conflicts they face. As the latter, don't expect to be taken aback with unpredictable twists or edge-of-your-seat suspense, because you won't find those here. I give it a 7/10.