2/17: The Ides Of March (2011)

On the 25th day in my 34 Days of Oscar, I saw the movie "The Ides of March". This film, based on a Broadway play, has been nominated this year for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.

"The Ides of March" follows Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) as he works on the campaign trail for Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney) who is currently competing to get the Democratic nomination in the upcoming presidential elections. He is working with Paul Zara (Philip

Seymour Hoffman) as the main "brain trust" behind Morris's campaign. One day he gets a secret phone call from Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) who is the campaign manager of Morris's Democratic rival. Duffy wants to meet and against his better judgement, Meyers agrees to do so.

In the fallout from that meeting, Meyers discovers that the next few days will not only threaten his job, but the entire presidential campaign of Governor Morris.

There wasn't anything in "The Ides of March" that caught me by surprise. It was attempting to show the viewer what it is like on the campaign trail for a presidential hopeful, but felt like a leftover episode from the TV show "The West Wing". The all-star cast did an excellent job and without them, this movie would have been a snooze-fest. George Clooney and Ryan Gosling both put in great performances and had a little fire in their eyes, especially in a scene near the end of the film. Clooney also directed "The Ides of March" and continues to show a great talent for working behind the camera as well. The screenplay, based of the Broadway play "Farragut North", has been nominated this year for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. The dialogue is snappy, but it didn't feel as smart as other political movies I have seen in the past.

In the end, I give "The Ides of March" 2 out of 5 stars. It had great acting performances from everyone, but the award nominated script didn't pack enough of a punch to it. If you are interested in checking out good "behind the scenes" political fiction, check out old episodes of "The West Wing". This movie is somewhat depressing and you have a pretty good idea what's going to happen within the first few minutes of seeing the characters on screen.