The Ides of March [REVIEW]

In The Ides of March, George Clooney plays Mike Morris, Governor of an unnamed state, who is running for President. Gosling plays his Junior Campaign Manager, Stephen Meyers, who may or may not be loyal to Morris. Meyers casually drifts into an affair with an intern on his staff (Evan Rachel Wood). In the meantime, he is approached by a rival campaign manager to switch to his team. News of this clandestine meeting is leaked to the press. Meanwhile, the intern harbors a secret about a past relationship, which could derail Morris's candidacy, and it is up to Meyers to find out the truth.

Gosling has never been better. He practically steals the movie from Clooney - not an easy thing do - with his confident and good-looking ways, whether handling a crisis or questioning his loyalty.

Clooney, who produced, directed and co-wrote the film, is very much in his element as the presidential candidate. Clooney looks, acts, and talks so much like a prospective presidential candidate that I wouldn't be surprised if he announced his candidacy in the next few months. He is that believable.

Wood is very good as the intern who may or may not be as innocent as she looks. Also very good is Paul Giamatti in his brief role as the rival campaign manager. Oscar winners Philip Seymore Hoffman as Morris's campaign manager and Marisa Tomei as a tough as nails New York Times reporter are also very good. Rarely will you see a film with such a superb cast.

With the US presidential election exactly one year away, The Ides of March is very timely and has all the elements that make a very good film.

The Ides of March open in theatres today.

Tim Baros

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Tim Baros has worked in the derivatives industry for several large financial institutions in both the U.S. and the U.K. Tim moved from New York City to London in 2003 to take advantage of the many job opportunities that London had to offer at that time, and he has since become a British citizen. Tim enjoys writing, and has also had articles published in Touch London, Pride Life, CityAM and SquareMile.com.