THE IDES OF MARCH
Directed by: George Clooney,
Written by: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon (also play, “Farragut North”)
Starring: Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, Max Minghella
Idealism in politics is nothing new (see, e.g., the 2008 presidential election that swept a once little-known senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, into office). Neither, unfortunately, is cynicism (see, e.g., the 2010 congressional election that swung control of the House of Representatives back to Republican control). One or the other will likely determine next year’s presidential election, but that’s a discussion for another time and, quite possibly, another, non-film-related site. If you listen long enough or read semi-deeply enough, you’ll hear “politics is the art of compromise,” a phrase that suggests pragmatism, practicality, and, above all, realism, not idealism, but it also suggests world-weary cynicism, of backtracking on supposedly held principles for incremental change, incremental progress. That phrase, with all that it implies, lies at the center of George Clooney’s latest directorial effort, THE IDES OF MARCH, a loose adaptation of Beau Willimon 2008 play, “Farragut North.”
Set in the waning days of the Democratic presidential primary in Ohio, a state that holds the key to winning the presidential nomination and with it, most likely the White House as well, THE IDES OF MARCH centers on the political campaign of Michael Morris (George Clooney), the governor of Pennsylvania and, by his words and promises, a true liberal. He’s pro-choice, anti-death penalty, an environmentalist and pro-alternative energy, against resource wars, non-religious (unless you consider fidelity to the U.S. Constitution a religion). With his good looks, natural charisma, and unruffled self-confidence, Morris seems to be everything his little-seen opponent, Senator Pullman (Michael Mantell) of Arkansas, isn’t. In short, he’s a progressive’s wet dream and a conservative’s worst nightmare. Morris also has the best of the best campaign staff wise, Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a chain-smoking veteran of multiple political campaigns at the local, state, and national level, and Stephen Myers (Ryan Gosling), Morris’ chief political strategist.
While THE IDES OF MARCH naturally revolves around Morris (in the play, Morris never appears on-stage, the better for on-stage characters to idealize him and off-stage audience members to substitute their own romanticized version for him), Myers is the central character. Myers’ journey from young, energetic idealist willing to do anything for the cause as long as the cause is noble and he believes in the cause (prerequisites for ideologues too), to jaded, cynical political operative forms THE IDES OF MARCH’s narrative and thematic backbone. Two events determine Myers’ (short) fall from idealist to cynic: (1) An offer, initially refused, to work for Pullman’s campaign courtesy of Pullman’s campaign manager and Zara’s longtime rival, Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti), and (2) A romantic subplot involving Molly Stearns (Evan Rachel Wood), a twenty-something intern who boldly seduces Myers in his own office days before the primary.
The first event also involves Senator Thompson (Jeffrey Wright), a former presidential contender with close to four hundred pledged delegates. Thompson’s more than willing to play kingmaker, but at a steep price: Secretary of State in Morris’ or Pullman’s cabinet. Myers’ meeting Duffy threatens his relationship with Zara and, with it, his position in Morris’ campaign. Myers’ seemingly casual relationship creates a cascade of complications (which won’t be revealed here for obvious reasons), but are just as important, if not more important, than Myers’ failure to immediately disclose his meeting with Duffy to Zara. Myers’ increasingly desperate actions, both to advance Morris’ campaign and, later, to survive politically reveal his true, inner character: Power, not principle, ultimately determines the choices he makes and the future he makes for himself.
THE IDES OF MARCH also includes several, secondary and background fillers characters: Ida Horowicz (Marisa Tomei), a scoop-hungry, “New York Times” political reporter traveling with the campaign, Ben Harpen (Max Minghella), a campaign aide one step below Myers just as eager for advancement, and Cindy Morris (Jennifer Ehle), the First-Lady-in-Waiting and, of course, Morris’ wife of two plus decades. All play somewhat significant roles to play in the larger, overarching narrative, but befitting their secondary status, have little screen time. Cindy especially could have benefitted from more than one scene where she and Morris share an intimate moment in the backseat of a limo as Morris heads to the next campaign stop.
Unfortunately, THE IDES OF MARCH offers little else thematically or narratively, but, at risk of damning with faint praise, what it does offer in the way of acting, all uniformly excellent, especially Ryan Gosling (unsurprising if you’ve followed his career) and Jeffrey Wright (memorable in just two or three scenes), dialogue (caustic, trenchant, perceptive), visual style (uncluttered, unobtrusive), pacing (tight, never slack), and cinematography (story-serving, coherent camera movement, moody atmospherics) are, if insufficient to make up for THE IDES OF MARCH’s risk-adverse approach to storytelling, then more than enough to be worthwhile, if again, non-essential, viewing.
