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The Ides of March (2011 film)

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The Ides of March
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGeorge Clooney
Screenplay byGeorge Clooney
Grant Heslov
Beau Willimon
Produced byGeorge Clooney
Grant Heslov
Brian Oliver
Leonardo DiCaprio (Executive)
StarringRyan Gosling
George Clooney
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Paul Giamatti
Marisa Tomei
Jeffrey Wright
Evan Rachel Wood
CinematographyPhedon Papamichael
Edited byStephen Mirrione
Music byAlexandre Desplat
Production
companies
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
Release dates
Running time
101 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$12,500,000[2]
Box office$75,993,061[3][4]

The Ides of March is a 2011 American political drama film directed by George Clooney from a screenplay written by Clooney, along with Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon. The film is an adaptation of Willimon's 2008 play Farragut North. It stars Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, and Evan Rachel Wood.

The Ides of March was featured as the opening film at the 68th Venice International Film Festival and at the 27th Haifa International Film Festival and was shown at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.[5][6] It received a wide theatrical release on October 7, 2011.

Plot

Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) is the junior campaign manager for Mike Morris (George Clooney), Governor of Pennsylvania and a Democratic presidential candidate, competing against Arkansas Sen. Ted Pullman (Michael Mantell) in the Democratic primary. The candidates are campaigning in Ohio. Both campaigns are attempting to enlist the endorsement of North Carolina Democratic Sen. Franklin Thompson (Jeffrey Wright), who controls 356 convention delegates, enough to clinch the nomination for either candidate.

After a debate at Miami University, Meyers is asked by Pullman's campaign manager, Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti), to meet in secret. Meyers calls his boss, senior campaign manager Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who doesn't answer. Meyers leaves a message that something important has come up. Meyers decides to meet Duffy, who offers Meyers a position in Pullman's campaign, an offer Meyers refuses. Zara calls Meyers back and asks what was important, but Meyers says it was nothing to worry about.

Meyers starts a sexual relationship with Molly Stearns (Evan Rachel Wood), an intern for Morris' campaign and daughter of Jack Stearns (Gregory Itzin), the chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Meyers admits to an angry Zara that he met with Duffy, and that Duffy said his candidate, Pullman, will offer Thompson the position of Secretary of State, guaranteeing Pullman's victory. Zara and Meyers discuss the matter with Morris, saying they must make the same offer to Thompson to secure his endorsement and his delegates' votes. Morris refuses, as he thoroughly disagrees with Thompson and his policies, and wants a "clean" campaign without such deals.

Late one night when Molly is in his room sleeping, Meyers discovers that Morris is trying to call her. She and Morris had a brief sexual liaison at a campaign stop in Iowa several weeks previously, and Molly is now pregnant by the Governor. Meyers helps her with money for an abortion but warns her not to tell anybody. Meyers also fires Molly from the campaign.

Ida (Marisa Tomei), a reporter for the New York Times, reveals to Meyers that an anonymous source leaked his encounter with Duffy to her and that she will publish unless Meyers gives her all of the information about his meeting with Thompson. Meyers comes to Zara for help, believing the story would damage himself, Zara, and the campaign. Zara reveals that in fact he leaked the meeting to Ida with Morris' approval in order to force Meyers into resigning from the campaign, stating that he did this because Meyers was disloyal for meeting with Duffy.

An angry Meyers then offers his services to Duffy, who admits he only met with Meyers in order to influence his opponent's operation and had no intention of hiring him. He suspected that Meyers would tell Zara about the meeting which would lead Zara to remove Meyers from Morris' campaign. Should this happen, Duffy correctly surmised, the Morris campaign would be weakened and, as a result, Pullman's would be strengthened. Before dismissing Meyers, Duffy encourages the younger man to quit the business before he becomes a cynic. Meanwhile, Molly learns that Meyers has been fired and fearing that he will reveal her pregnancy, takes a fatal drug overdose.

Since both sides used him, Meyers goes on the offensive. Unbeknownst to the Morris campaign, he meets with Thompson to arrange for Thompson's delegates in exchange for a spot on the Morris ticket. Meyers confronts Morris, telling him that he will expose the affair with Molly if Morris does not accept his demands: fire Zara, place Meyers in charge of the campaign, and offer Thompson the role of Vice President. Morris resists, but Meyers claims that he has a suicide note found in Molly's room. Morris relents and meets all of Meyer's demands (with Zara's dismissal spun by all parties as a resignation caused by the loss of the Ohio primary). Later at Molly's funeral, Zara compliments Meyers on his cynicism and skill in using secrets to his advantage. Later, Thompson's endorsement (and delegates) makes Morris the de facto nominee despite losing the Democratic Party's Ohio primary election (which Morris claims was lost only because the state's open primary allowed Republicans and Independents to vote in it and thereby sabotage it by choosing the weaker Democrat).

Now senior campaign manager, Meyers is on the way to a remote TV interview with John King when Ida ambushes him and says her next story will be about how Meyers' delivered Thompson and his delegates and got his promotion. Meyers reacts only by having security bar her from coming any further. Meyers takes his seat for the interview, just as Morris finishes a speech about how integrity and dignity matters, and is asked for insight as to how the events surrounding the primary unfolded. The film ends before he answers.

Cast

Production

In October 2010, Variety reported that Clooney signed on to produce, direct, and star in the film adaptation of Beau Willimon's Broadway play Farragut North. Exclusive Media Group, Cross Creek Pictures, Smoke House Pictures, and Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way Productions financed the film.[9] Filming in Cincinnati, Ohio began in February 2011 in Downtown Cincinnati at Fountain Square, Over-the-Rhine historic district, Northside, Mount Lookout, Xavier University, other neighborhoods and at Miami University's Farmer School of Business and Hall Auditorium (Miami University and Hall Auditorium are located in Oxford, Ohio).[10][11] Principal photography also took place in Downtown Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan. On March 14, filming began at the University of Michigan and included 1,000 extras.[12]

The theatrical release failed to recognize Cincinnati in the credits as a filming location. Producer and screenplay co-writer Grant Heslov said that "the omission of Cincinnati in the credits was an inadvertent mistake, something that slipped through the cracks." He also stated that the credits would be corrected for the home release of the film.[13]

Release

The Ides of March premiered on August 31, 2011 as the opening film of the 68th Venice International Film Festival.[14] Sony Pictures Entertainment bought the distribution rights for the United States and Canada. Sony wanted Clooney to keep the play's title, but The Ides of March was finalized.[7] The Ides of March was originally planned to have a limited release in December 2011 and a wide release in January 2012.[7] However, Sony eventually moved the film's opening date to October 14, 2011.[15] This was later moved again, to October 7, 2011.

Critical reception

The film received positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 85% of 190 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 7.3 out of 10.[16] Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film a score of 67 based on 43 reviews.[17] CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film was a "B" on an A+ to F scale.[18]

Nevertheless, some critics gave the film mixed or even negative reviews.[19][20][21] One such mixed review came from A. O. Scott, who wrote that "it is difficult, really, to connect this fable to the world it pretends to represent. Whatever happens in 2012, within either party or in the contest between them, it seems fair to say that quite a lot will be at stake. That is not the case in The Ides of March, which is less an allegory of the American political process than a busy, foggy, mildly entertaining antidote to it."[22]

Accolades

Awards Group Category Recipient Result
84th Academy Awards Best Adapted Screenplay George Clooney, Grant Heslov, and Beau Willimon Nominated
65th British Academy Film Awards Best Supporting Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman Nominated
68th Venice International Film Festival.[23] Brian Prize Won
Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards[24] Best Film – International Nominated
Best Screenplay – International George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon Won
Best Actor – International Ryan Gosling Nominated
69th Golden Globe Awards[25] Best Picture – Drama Nominated
Best Director George Clooney Nominated
Best Actor – Drama Ryan Gosling Nominated
Best Screenplay George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon Nominated
Hollywood Movie Awards[26] Hollywood Editor Award Stephen Mirrione Won
National Board of Review[27] Top Ten Films
Producers Guild of America Award[28] Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Brian Oliver Pending

See also

References

  1. ^ "'The Ides of March' (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 2011-09-12. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
  2. ^ Kaufman, Amy (October 6, 2011). "Movie Projector: 'Real Steel' to crush 'Ides of March'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  3. ^ "The Ides of March (2011)". Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. Retrieved May 15, 2012.
  4. ^ "The Ides of March". The-Numbers.com. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  5. ^ "TIFF 2011: U2, Brad Pitt, George Clooney Films Featured At 2011 Toronto International Film Festival". The Huffington Post. The Canadian Press. July 26, 2011. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
  6. ^ Evans, Ian (2011), "Ides of March premiere photos", DigitalHit.com, retrieved 2012-03-20
  7. ^ a b c d Fischer, Russ (November 2, 2010). "Sony Picks up George Clooney's 'The Ides of March' For December 2011 Release". /Film. Archived from the original on September 18, 2011. Retrieved March 2, 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ a b c "The Ides of March (2011)". All Media Guide. The New York Times Company. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
  9. ^ a b c d McNary, Dave (October 27, 2010). "Clooney to direct Gosling in 'Ides of March'". Variety. Reed Business Information. Archived from the original on September 18, 2011. Retrieved March 1, 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "George Clooney films at Xavier". WCPO-TV. E. W. Scripps Company. February 28, 2011. Archived from the original on September 18, 2011. Retrieved March 6, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ Kiesewetter, John (February 28, 2011). "Clooney team films 'Ides' at fast pace". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Gannett Company. Archived from the original on September 18, 2011. Retrieved March 2, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "Movie extras needed for George Clooney film in Ann Arbor". WXYZ-TV. February 15, 2011. Archived from the original on September 18, 2011. Retrieved September 18, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "'Ides' credits forget to thank Cincinnati". The Cincinnati Enquirer. October 7, 2011. Retrieved October 15, 2011. {{cite web}}: Text "FRONTPAGE" ignored (help); Text "newswell" ignored (help); Text "p" ignored (help); Text "text" ignored (help)
  14. ^ Vivarelli, Nick (June 22, 2011). "Venice confirms 'Ides' as opener". Variety. Reed Business Information. Archived from the original on September 18, 2011. Retrieved June 22, 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ McClintock, Pamela (March 3, 2011). "Sony Sets Release Date for George Clooney's 'The Ides of March'". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on September 18, 2011. Retrieved April 11, 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ "The Ides of March". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved October 30, 2011.
  17. ^ "The Ides of March Reviews, Ratings, Credits". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  18. ^ Kaufman, Amy (October 9, 2011). "Box Office: 'Real Steel' KOs competition, including George Clooney". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
  19. ^ http://themuddoctor.blogspot.com/2011/12/ides-of-march.html
  20. ^ http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-ides-of-march,62914/
  21. ^ http://nymag.com/movies/reviews/ides-of-march-edelstein-2011-10/
  22. ^ Scott, A. O. (October 6, 2011). "Estranged Bedfellows". The New York Times. Retrieved October 7, 2011.
  23. ^ "Brian Award at Venice Film Festival 2011". Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics (in Italian). September 9, 2011. Archived from the original on September 18, 2011. Retrieved September 18, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  24. ^ "AACTA International Award Nominees" (PDF). Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). January 15, 2012. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
  25. ^ Time. December 15, 2011 http://entertainment.time.com/2011/12/15/the-artist-leads-2011-golden-globe-nominations-with-six-bids/?iid=ent-category-mostpop1. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  26. ^ "2011 Hollywood Film Awards Honorees". Yahoo! Movies. October 7, 2011. Retrieved October 25, 2011.
  27. ^ Corliss, Richard (December 1, 2011). "Year-End Awards: National Board of Review Says 'We Go with Hugo'". Time.com. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
  28. ^ "PGA ANNOUNCES THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURE AND LONG-FORM TELEVISION NOMINATIONS FOR 2012 PGA AWARDS". producersguild.org. January 3, 2011. Retrieved January 5, 2011.

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