Don't expect Shakespeare in 'The Ides of March'
By Matt Grantz, Assistant Editor
October 24 , 2011
 “The Ides of March” is a political drama about Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling), one of the lead strategists in the presidential campaign of Mike Morris (George Clooney), and Meyers’ struggle to deal with the dark realities of politics.
The film begins with Meyers preparing a podium for Morris at a debate in Ohio. After the debate, Meyers and Paul Zara (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) discuss the campaign with a political columnist for the “New York Times” (Marisa Tomei). The discussion reveals that Meyers is a true optimist, actually believing in his candidate’s integrity while Zara believes only in winning.
Afterward, Zara travels out of Ohio to talk an important politician into endorsing Morris. With Zara gone, Tom Duffy, campaign manger for Morris’s opponent, calls Meyers and asks to meet with him. At the meeting Duffy tries to convince Meyers to switch sides and work for Duffy, but Meyers refuses, saying he believes in Morris’s ideals. Despite this refusal and affirmation of loyalty to Morris, Duffy says his offer will stand. Meyers doesn’t immediately inform Zara, his superior, of this meeting and the offer.
Shortly afterwards, Meyer’s learns a deep, dark secret about Morris and does his best to cover it up. Eventually, Meyers’ meeting with Duffy lands him in hot water, and the situation within the campaign begins a downward spiral.
“The Ides of March” highlights an interesting plot that tackles the topic of how political corruption operates as well as how easily an idealist’s idealism is crushed. The characters are believable, but the real problem hurting this film is that the story is rather dry at times and it can be hard to follow.
The film is designed for a certain type of viewer, so I certainly wouldn’t recommend “The Ides of March” for everyone. And frankly, as someone who does enjoy political dramas, I didn’t find it to be a great movie. Therefore, “The Ides of March” gains simply a neutral rating.
 
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