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:

Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 9 wins & 21 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:

presidential campaign | endorsement | funeral | campaign speech | presidential debate | 

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Taglines:

Is This Man Our Next President?

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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 [fr]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Farragut North

Filming Locations:

Ann Arbor, Michigan, 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

Shipped to theaters under the code name "Double Vision".

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Goofs

When they are watching a bank of TVs, the TV on the far left has a "Local 12" lower third, but the reporter doing the stand-up is holding a Channel 9 Microphone.

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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 At the Movies: Episode #8.37 (2011)

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Soundtracks

"We'll Meet Again"
Written by Ross Parker and Charles Hughes

User Reviews

A terrible movie

I understand that movies are the willing suspension of disbelief, but Ides of March asks for WAY too much suspension. I have worked on dozens of campaigns and I have never seen less energy in a headquarters. I have never seen less passion in a candidate, a manager or a volunteer. What was George Cloony running for? Coroner? During a hard fought campaign, the staff fits in a meal when they can and sleeps for a few hours if possible. Except for that, they have no life.

All of the problems of the campaign were handled in the worst possible way. The idea that this was an actual presidential campaign was completely unbelievable.

It was like watching a baseball movie in which the greatest player of all time didn't know which end of the bat to hold.