Watch The Ides of March For Free

the audience applauded

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The first half of the movie was somewhat promising, but some twists that succeeded I found inexplicable. Furthermore, I'm not quite sure this is the right picture of how politics are (at least from what I hear from other sources), and some scenes just seem to be left "hanging" like they don't affect the further development of the story. I simply feel that this is one relatively confined view on the topic itself. On the other hand, the acting was very well done, everyone played that part beyond average, which is a shame because I didn't buy into the plot itself.DISCLAIMER : Everything stated in this review is entirely matter of personal opinion and doesn't have to coincide with the opinions of other reviewers

An upgright guy working for a political campaign makes a few mistakes under stress and sacrifices his integrity to keep his career. Everybody has to pay for his decision. Gut wrenching drama. First class acting all around. A treat to watch, though hard towards the end.

The movie shows that at the end you have to do what you have to do to save yourself. You might have the best interest in heart but when others around you play you then it's time to start thinking about yourself. While I think this message is transmitted clearly enough through the story line of the movie, the story moves forward quite slowly for my taste. There are a lot of scenes where the dialogue between characters is mundane. With regards to acting, I am not impressed by Ryan Gosling. He comes across as cold and fails to transmit emotions in situations when for example he feels betrayed and played. George Clooney does a great job in impersonating presidential speeches but beyond that he delivered a mediocre performance as well. Overall, I find the movie to be a bit unrealistic and overly simplified in terms of how the character of Stephen Meyers achieved his revenge. When I feel that I have wasted almost two hours when a movie ends, then I know that I didn't like the movie very much and that was the case with this one.

Politics is a place where ideals go to die. That's the underlying message of this realistic, well-acted, occasionally involving film.Ohio's Democratic primary is only days away, and Pennsylvania Governor Mike Morris (George Clooney) has a sizable but insecure lead over his one remaining challenger. An alliance with a former candidate with 356 pledged delegates can put Morris over the top, but at a steep price. As campaign aides scramble to make the best of the situation, Morris's deputy campaign manager, Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) discovers Morris carries a secret no primary can overcome.Clooney directed and co-wrote the film, adapted from a play which presents the Machiavellian situation in the form of a personal journey similar to what Michael Corleone experienced in "The Godfather." Will he do what it takes to clear the field, or will he be left in the dust?"This is the big leagues," Meyers tells someone in the movie, though he could as easily be talking to himself. "It's mean. When you make a mistake, you lose the right to play."The challenge "Ides Of March" sets up is not in laying out the tawdry realities of campaign politics, which anyone with eyes can see on the news. It's making you care. In that way, it's not successful. The characters all talk in caffeine-charged soundbites, winning you over with their charisma but lacking depth. Clooney in his DVD commentary talks a lot about losing one's soul, and you see what he means, but you wonder whether anyone here has a soul to lose.While Meyers' journey is a dark one, we never quite see him as much of a prize. One of the first orders we hear him give deals with a scurrilous rumor about Morris' rival having a financial stake in a Liberian diamond mine. "I don't care if it's true, I just want to hear him deny it," Meyers says. "Win, win."So when Meyers finds himself the rumormongers' victim, you don't care as much as you might, even with Gosling giving a finely-shaded performance. He's too much of a Machiavel already.What gives this film its lasting power is not the message but the supporting performances. Paul Giamatti and Philip Seymour Hoffman crush every scene they are in with smart readings of clever dialogue without the slightest flavor of ham between them. Even better is Evan Rachel Wood as a young intern, "a little girl trying to make it in a grown up world," who discovers herself a helpless pawn in the game. She could too easily play the part of a mere sacrificial lamb, as that's what she's given. Instead she finds the grit to deliver real empathy in a film sorely in need of it.I find Clooney a fine director here stuck with one weak acting performance, ironically enough his own. Morris is supposed to be a smoothie, but his handling of trickier territory, and his attempts at playing dark in dealing with them, ring hollow. When Clooney focuses his camera on the other actors, which he often does, the results are so solid you wish he followed those selfless instincts more closely."Ides Of March" is a well-played film with a played-out message. I had no problem admiring its craft, but I felt disengaged throughout, caring less about the story than the acting clinic unfolding before me. In that sense, it delivers enough positives to make it worthwhile. Just don't expect too much.