The Ides of March (2011)
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A talented political staffer must navigate the murky waters of a high-stakes presidential campaign as a scandalous secret threatens to derail everything.
The story
Stephen Meyers is a talented political staffer and the junior campaign manager for Pennsylvania Governor Mike Morris. Just days before the pivotal primary elections in Ohio and North Carolina, Stephen and senior campaign manager Paul Zara work to secure Morris the Democratic nomination for president and defeat rival Ted Pullman. The New York Times reporter Ida Horowicz seeks an inside scoop on the Ohio primary. Paul is confident in Morris's odds from his career experience while Stephen believes deeply in Morris's political cause. Ida warns Stephen that Morris will disappoint him. Before leaving, Paul tells Ida off the record that they're pursuing the endorsement of North Carolina Senator Franklin Thompson, a DINO whose control over 356 pledged delegates would secure Morris the nomination.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Stephen Meyers, a dedicated political staffer, works for Pennsylvania Governor Mike Morris during a high-stakes presidential campaign. While trying to secure the Democratic nomination against rival Ted Pullman, Stephen navigates a complex web of alliances and secrets. He meets with the opposing campaign's manager, Tom Duffy, who offers him a role and reveals the 'dirty' tactics used to win. Simultaneously, Stephen enters a relationship with Molly Stearns, an intern whose pregnancy by the Governor creates a potential scandal. After Molly's tragic death by suicide, Stephen uses a forged note to blackmail the Governor. To protect the campaign, Morris promotes Stephen and secures the endorsement of Senator Franklin Thompson. The film concludes with Stephen and Morris preparing to announce their victory, while Stephen must manage the fallout of the secrets they've buried to reach the top.
- First release year
- 2011
- Runtime (minutes)
- 101
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- George Clooney
- Writers
- George Clooney · screenplay; Grant Heslov · screenplay; Beau Willimon · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Ryan Gosling · Stephen Meyers; George Clooney · Mike Morris; Philip Seymour Hoffman · Paul Zara; Paul Giamatti · Tom Duffy; Marisa Tomei · Ida Horowicz; Jeffrey Wright · Franklin Thompson; Evan Rachel Wood · Molly Stearns
- Genres
- drama; thriller
- Themes
- political corruption; moral compromise
- Tone and mood
- serious; tense
- Setting
- United States, during a presidential campaign period.
- Premise and plot tags
- political drama; political thriller
- Source material / true-story basis
- Willimon's 2008 play Farragut North
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews from critics and was chosen by the National Board of Review as one of the top ten films of 2011.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 84% · scale: percentage · review count: 243; Rotten Tomatoes · score: 7.38 · scale: 10; Metacritic · score: 67 · scale: 100 · review count: 43
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Adapted Screenplay · nomination
- Production trivia
- The film was the opening film at the 68th Venice International Film Festival.; The film was originally planned to have a limited release in December 2011.; The omission of Cincinnati in the credits was an inadvertent mistake.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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