Ides of March, The
Stephen Myers is an ambitious consultant working for the election campaign of Governor Mike Morris who’s running against a popular senator for the Democratic nomination for the presidential elections. He adores Morris and feels he’s truly the man who can change things for the better, but when the pressure heats up and he uncovers a secret that could completely thrash the campaign, he finds out that every great man has a dark side…
Sound and Vision:
The image is near perfect with excellent contrast, blacks and level of detail. Flesh tones are natural and we didn’t spot any compression errors what so ever. There’s a small hint of grain present but this delivers an additional film-like experience.
The DTS-HD track does exactly what it needs to do. The movie is dialogue-driven so focus is much on the front with crystal clear speech, but the music score does support the movie well with good use of the surround speakers and delivering a dynamic experience.
Extras:
– On the Campaign: The Cast of The Ides of March
– Believe: George Clooney
– Developing the Campaign: The Origin of The Ides of March
– What does a political consultant do?
About half an hour of extras with a tribute to Clooney, the cast coming back to talk about their characters, a behind the scenes feature where the writers talk about the influences they had and the differences between the movie and the play it’s based on, and finally a real life consultant talking about his job. A pretty interesting pack of extras.
Conclusion:
There have been a ton of political thrillers in the past, and also movies about presidential elections have passed by already so The Ides of March isn’t showing us anything we haven’t seen yet in one form or another. However, Clooney has surrounded himself with an excellent cast and refrains from trying to make an action movie of something that lacks action and as such he delivers a thriller that runs slowly but smoothly and achieves its goals nicely.
The Ides of March may not become one of the all-time classics, but it does deliver a good insight of the work of people behind the scenes of an election campaign and the stress and pressure that comes with it. Mostly, though, it’s the cast that shines. Character actors like Hoffman and Giamati are perfectly cast in their side roles, Gosling captures the screen almost as well as Clooney, and both Evan Rachel Wood and Marisa Tomei deliver the finishing touches to make this movie top notch. Excellent!
7.0