Mr. Clooney Goes to Washington in 'The Ides of March'

Hollywood superstar George Clooney stars in and directs "The Ides of March," a political thriller that reveals a dark underbelly of our ever-changing democracy. Clooney plays Democratic presidential candidate Mike Morris, a man who isn't what he appears to be in this political thriller.

The movie also features rising star Ryan Gosling. Gosling plays Clooney's hot-shot media strategist Stephen Myers. Gosling's character butts heads with the campaign manager (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and the opposition's campaign manager (Paul Giamatti). Marisa Tomei stars as the New York Times reporter who plunges them all down the slippery slope of tragedy and sleaze.

Without giving too much away, the story does loosely follows a Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky story line. Evan Rachel Wood plays a small role as the pretty intern who has quite a secret. The game of politics is dirty and this film does a brilliant job of pulling back the curtain. The timing is perfect too as we approach what will likely be a highly charged, polarizing presidential election season.

This film is smart and witty and the acting is great, but the corrupt politician storyline is well-worn and dated. It would have been nice to bring something new to the genre -- at least something that hasn't already been played out, to an extent, in real life.

The flick-o-meter gives "The Ides of March" a solid four out of five. The film has nothing to say about American electoral politics we don't already know. I was hoping that it would. In any event, it is a pretty good movie. Some are even giving it Oscar buzz.

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