Political 'Ides' goes beyond the bumper sticker

If politics is the art of compromise, then The Ides of March may be the most artful film of the year. Compromise of all kinds is at the heart of this taut, if overly obvious, election-themed thriller which, without any shootouts or explosions, is rife with emotional violence.

Based on Beau Willimon's play Farragut North, which itself was loosely based on Howard Dean's unsuccessful 2004 presidential campaign, The Ides of March was co-written and directed by George Clooney, who also stars as charming, charismatic Mike Morris, a Democratic governor locked in a tight primary bid. (Willimon and Grant Heslov, with whom Clooney collaborated on Good Night, and Good Luck, are the other credited screenwriters.)

It's all coming down to the wire in the Ohio primary, which Morris needs to win badly. Helping him in that quest are two of the best campaign managers in the business, the experienced Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his rising-star understudy, Stephen Myers (the ubiquitous Ryan Gosling). They're up against a candidate who also has one of the best advisers on his side, the cynical and crafty Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti), who wants desperately to get Stephen to work for him.

Knowing Clooney's personal politics, it might be assumed that Morris is a crusading knight in shining liberal armor -- and that is how he comes across at first. (In fact, his posters look suspiciously like those created for President Obama's 2008 campaign by Shepard Fairey.) And it's Morris' idealism that attracts Stephen to his cause.

Of course, things aren't quite as they seem, as the goal of winning trumps all else, no matter the consequences, and it's an eye-opening experience for Stephen. Yet it's an old, shopworn story that will be apparent to anyone who has the briefest acquaintance with how politics works. Some of the casting seems off, too: Evan Rachel Wood is a bit worldly as the naive intern, while Marisa Tomei, playing an investigative reporter, doesn't have much to do except help provide a major twist.

For the most part, though, it's all handled expertly by Clooney, who -- in addition to lightly biting the hand that has politically fed him -- manages to build suspense slowly, turning seemingly small incidents into compelling plot points. And he's perfect to play a media-savvy, glad-handing politician. (In perhaps an inside joke for liberal media junkies, he also uses the movie as an MSNBC Full Employment Act; there are appearances here from anchors Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews.)

At first, Gosling seems miscast as a supposedly passionate go-getter making a name for himself in the world of Democratic politics. He plays Stephen much like his character in Drive, intense yet almost frustratingly laconic. However, as the wheels begin to turn and he sinks deeper into the mire of political reality, his detachment seems appropriate.

Still, at the end, it's hard not to feel just a bit underwhelmed, as the revelations don't tell us much more than most people already believe: Politics is a dirty world where often the destination is much more important than the route it took to get there.