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:

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 [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

Some of Governor Mike Morris's (George Clooney) campaign posters are inspired by Shepard Fairey's iconic "Hope" poster, used during Barack Obama's campaign in 2008. The AP photograph that Fairey used in "Hope" was taken at a 2006 press conference in which then Sen. Obama shared a stage with fellow Senator Sam Brownback and George Clooney, who had just returned from Sudan. Indeed, the image in the "Hope" poster is of Obama listening to Clooney speak.

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Goofs

George Clooney and his wife are having a conversation in the campaign bus, at night somewhere near Cincinnati. But an exterior shot shows the bus pass a "Lansing" sign with the Michigan state route (diamond) symbol.

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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

"Fairest Lord Jesus"
Traditional

User Reviews

The games people play to get ahead, not necessarily in politics, but within themselves

George Clooney is running for President. Well, I mean, in "The Ides of March," as Governor Mike Morris, he's running for the Democratic Presidential nomination. He's the good guy and his opponent is the bad guy. Because that's how it is supposed to be, right? The opponent's campaign manager is played by the ever-shady Paul Giamatti, while Morris' campaign is championed by the young, handsome idealistic Stephen (Ryan Gosling).

This is about politics, the games people play to get ahead, and the types of people who get played—that's the interesting part. The refreshing part, is that this isn't about election night and who is going to win and who is going to lose. A few poll numbers are rattled off, but it's mostly about what is going to happen to our heroes (or anti-heroes) and what are they going to do in response. When you look like Clooney and Gosling, it's hard not to be the hero, but remember, this is politics and nobody is really a hero in that mess.

People make mistakes. I enjoyed following Stephen as he struggled internally with his path forward. He believes in the good of the Governor. He's smart and passionate and makes a good campaign manager. His mistakes seem minor and understandable. The problem is, he's 30. He's at the in-between age, where he's half young-college-student-ready-to-take-over-the-world and half experienced-cynic. Those are two very combative halves and when they come at odds within him, the character takes some shocking and drastic turns.

The few references to actual political gaffes are obvious and just done for comic relief. All the clever lines are stolen by Giamatti, who, I am predicting, will come away with the only acting nomination for the film. Although, the brilliant character work – that's done by everybody, and is what makes "The Ides of March" so intriguing.