THE IDES OF MARCH Review

An angry political noir, George Clooney's The Ides of March argues persuasively that the political system in the United States is broken and cannot be fixed, that everyone associated with politics is corrupt or corruptible, and that only the unpaid interns get well and truly ----ed.

It's like a religious movie made by someone who doesn't believe in God.

The film moves briskly through the mechanics of a presidential campaign before collapsing upon itself, borrowing a plot twist from a 1960s potboiler in order to deliver as many self-righteous pieties as possible in a furious march to the finish line. Clooney himself plays the presidential candidate, Governor Mike Morris of Pennsylvania, a liberal atheist who has raised the hopes of all his followers that he will be The One To Deliver Change.

He is not the main character, however; that responsibility rests with Ryan Gosling as Stephen Myers, a whip-smart political operative who runs the campaign under the guidance of his mentor, the wily Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Stephen tells Ida Horowicz (Marisa Tomei), a reporter for The New York Times, that he has "drunk the Kool-Aid," that he fervently believes in Governor Morris, and will be happy to ride his candidate all the way to the White House. First, however, the Governor must win the Ohio primary -- "as Ohio goes, so goes the nation" -- by defeating a rival candidate, a Senator from Arkansas whose campaign is run by the extremely savvy Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti).

Paul, Stephen, and Ben Harpen (Max Minghella) form the Governor's brain trust; as young Stephen and young Ben happily acknowledge, they are married to the campaign. But even the hard-driving Stephen is human, and he can't resist the very forward flirtations offered up by 20-year-old intern Molly Stearns (Evan Rachel Wood). And Stephen also can't resist an invitation to a secret meeting with Tom Duffy, in which the rival campaign manager offers him a job, like, right now.

Both candidates are seeking the endorsement of Senator Thompson (Jeffrey Wright), who has a slate of delegates that could decide the race. Fully cognizant of the (temporary) power he holds, Senator Thompson is determined to play one side against the other; his loyalty will belong to whoever can offer him the best post-election package.

Governor Morris insists that he will maintain his integrity and not give in to such political blackmail, and pushes his brain trust to find a way to win the Ohio primary anyway. Stephen becomes distracted by his romantic dalliance with Molly, and eventually by a chain of events that threatens to spiral out of his control.

The Ides of March is based on "Farragut North," a play by Beau Willimon, a campaign worker in a previous presidential campaign. The screenplay is credited to Willimon, Clooney, and Grant Heslov, and trades on the kind of inauthentic authenticity that has become familiar to anyone who follows politics -- or has seen a political movie or two. It looks and sounds as it should, and is presented in a slick, gorgeous package, photographed by Phedon Papamichael and edited by Stephen Mirrione. Clooney and Heslov have been collaborating for years, and The Ides of March fits comfortably alongside the stylish and substantive Good Night, and Good Luck, on which they also shared screenplay credit.

More conservative ideologically and cinematically than Good Night, and Good Luck, though, The Ides of March appears content to fire up volleys of outrage without much caring that they all fall safely within the field of play, never straying outside the boundaries of conventional expectations. As a director, Clooney has become more restrained, pulling back from the gleeful visual excess of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and the stark sumptuousness of Good Night, and Good Luck into the safety of a mainstream thriller.

But as the suspense crumples, what's left is not much more than a sour, disapproving face, wagging a finger as if to say: "What did you expect, true insight into the political process?" Instead, The Ides of March moves beyond cynicism into outright pessimism, confirming everyone's worst fears about modern politics: Only fools -- and interns -- believe it will ever change.

The Ides of March opens wide today across the U.S. Check local listings for theaters and showtimes.