"The Ides of March" is a compelling, tension-filled political thriller with a superb cast.
George Clooney directs and stars in the movie, which is as up-to-date as your newspaper, radio, television or web site headlines.
"Ides" is a deeply-cynical look at presidential politics. Clooney plays Mike Morris, a fictional Pennsylvania governor seeking the Democrat party presidential nomination.
The movie's title refers to March 15, date of the Ohio presidential primary, and the date in 44 B.C. for the death of Julius Caesar, referred to in Shakespeare's play, "Julius Caesar," with "Beware the Ides of March."
"Ides" tells a fly-on-the-wall or in contemporary politics, texting on the cell phone insider's view of hardball national politics.
Ryan Gosling plays Stephen, an idealistic campaign strategist for Morris. Gosling's resolve is tested when he goes head to head with Philip Seymour Hoffman, playing Paul, Morris's campaign manager, and Paul Giamatti, playing the campaign manager of Morris's Democrat primary opponent.
Mixed it to the political stew is Evan Rachel Wood as Molly, a young Morris campaign worker whose role becomes more crucial to the storyline (we won't play spoiler here), and Marissa Tomei, as Ida, an experienced print journalist. Suffice it to say: Payback is a, er, brutal.
Adding to the believability are cameos by MSNBC's