The Ides of March

Impressions before seeing it
It wasn't on my list of movies I wanted to see last year, but I found it in a bargain bin and recalled the trailer marketing it as a political thriller. I'm not into politics, but political thrillers can be fun, and this one does have a good cast.

How was it?
The Ides of March explains perfectly my personal choice to abstain from voting and politics; I refuse to vote for the lesser of two evils - because it's always two evils. Governor Morris (Clooney), a presidential candidate, is seemingly a good guy, charismatic and with worthy platforms for the masses, and is even trying to play his campaign straight, refusing to make shady deals for victories. All of that soon goes out the window when his junior campaign manager Stephen (Gosling) discovers a shameful secret of his, and the entire campaign becomes messy and dirty because of it, but only behind the scenes. To the public, Morris is still as wholesome as ever, and that's what's wrong with politics. Even if you intend to do it right, you won't, because you can't. Politics is too dirty a game to win cleanly, and sometimes we don't even see the dirt, but it's always there.

The story is not told from Morris' point of view, but Stephen's, because he's the behind the scenes guy at the center of the scandal. The film's poster is an apt one: it implies that Morris is a composite of a media image and the guy behind that image. Morris himself isn't even on the poster, because Governor Morris the human being is irrelevant in the campaign for president. If the movie were told from Morris' point of view, we would be getting more of his public image and less of what was really going on, and that would be too much like real life politics and we wouldn't get the expositional piece that is The Ides of March. It kept me interested because of this, because of all the plot twists it threw out and the very strong cast delivering the material without fault. I think this is the kind of movie I was looking for (and didn't find) when I watched Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. The writing had just enough subtlety not to be too confusing or too obvious, and I was engaged in the material. Even though I don't care about politics.

Recommendation
Whether you're into politics or not, everyone should be aware of the deception and corruption that comes with running for office. This one is a handy little edutainment package on that front. Also see Wag the Dog, or even that Family Guy episode where Lois briefly becomes Mayor of Quahog.