The Ides of March at London Film Festival

The Ides of March at London Film Festival

19 October, 2011
by: Naima Khan

A surprisingly dull take on sleazy American political campaigns from George Clooney and Ryan Gosling.

The Ides of March is exactly what you expect it to be and a little less. This slick take on the unsightly side of American politics is the antithesis of the comedic sketchy resignations and controlled scandals that British cinema likes to celebrate, à la In The Loop.

Instead, in depicting the manipulation of the voting masses, The Ides of March is all leather gloves and hasty pay-phone conversations about skeezy deals and changing loyalties. But the little it does, it does excellently.

Ryan Gosling leads a cast including George Clooney (briefly), Philip Seymour Hoffman (brilliantly), Paul Giamatti (flawlessly) and Evan Rachel Wood (predictably) as they have seething, silhouetted discussions beneath the looming image of the American flag. These moments of visual elegance make this a consistently handsome film that enjoys its polished intensity as much as its pretty cast.

Gosling is generally better in his grimier roles. His turn as an addict in Half Nelson and an unambitious screw-up in Blue Valentine still outshine any of his suited and booted roles including this one. And that's only because we see too little of his character's dark side in this film.

He starts as the earnest, talented Stephen Myers, the not quite senior campaign manager to potential Democratic candidate, George Clooney. Protective of a man he really believes in and a campaign he's married to, Gosling cleans up Clooney's messes dutifully but a moment of weakness that sees his ego take charge leaves him seeking revenge, which is when things get interesting. But the action and the really compelling character arcs develop too late; and as a consequence, the most absorbing moments are all too fleeting.

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Naima Khan