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Meh, doesn't look much different than many other political thrillers out there... and they threw in as many Oscar nonimated/winning actors as possible.

Is Clooney becoming the next Costner - starring in every movie he directs?

I wouldn't go that far, he hasn't been the main character in any of his directorial efforts.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind - Sam Rockwell was the main character
Good Night, and Good Luck - More of an ensemble with David Strathairn at te top
Leatherheads - John Krasinski

I think it has more to do with securing financing, having Clooney in the movie will sell more tickets and allow him to make these unconventional scripts.

looks very promising. Ryan Gosling looks to have a great year.

This is correct. The average movie watcher could care less who the director of a film is. They care more about the actors.

What a cast.

Gosling and Clooney, Hoffman and Wright, Giamatti, wow. I'm stoked.

Good cast, but looks pretty lame.

THE AMERICAN looked lame too, then turned out to be a shockingly marvelous piece of art.

I liked the American, but it was a slow & sometimes boring boil.

If I want to look at art, I'll look in a museum.

I hope he performs the song "Vehicle."

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Not much buzz about this one. Any early impressions?

It's got 75% so far...15 positive and 5 negative.

I'm pretty sure many of the negative reviews will mention Clooney idolizing liberals, many of the positive reviews will probably mention it too.

Fandango lists the running time at 102 minutes. With this being a political drama, I expected a bit longer.

RT's rating is now 79% with 40 reviews in.

Can't wait. Clooney can do no wrong and Gosling's on a hot streak.

Roger Ebert only gives it three stars which, considering the cast, is not that flattering. Ebert does assert, however, that all the characters, both good and bad, in this film are Democrats so this does not represent an attack on Republicans, only the election process.

I thought it was okay but didn't really love it. Truthfully I don't see what's special about Gosling...

Saw it. Thought the acting was great and the cast was pretty much a dream one for this kind of movie. However, the story is nothing out of the ordinary. Count me in the camp of someone who thinks Gosling has potential. Put this with Drive and he has two very impressive performances, and they actually kind of build off each other. He really knows how to play nice guys with a dangerous edge. Only weak link was Evan Rachel Wood, who really needs to expand her resume beyond the young woman who causes trouble.

I give it three stars as a movie, but three and a half as an acting showcase. Check it out, especially if you're into politics.

Great acting but just kind of there as a movie... Movie is only an hour and a half and felt much longer.

I quite enjoyed "The Ides of March", a modern day retelling of how political ambition can tear down one's own personal ethics and propel personal actions that not only manifest themselves in self-preservation moves even at the high cost of political and personal fall-out.

Ryan Gosling does most of the heavy lifting in this film, playing Stephen, a very on-the-rise political mover-and-shaker working on the campaign of Mike Morris (George Clooney), in a race for the Presidential nomination for the Democratic Party. Paul (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is the campaign manager, trying to secure the nomination for Morris, and Stephen gets involved in some overtures from their adversary's campaign manager Tom (Paul Giamatti), and things quickly spiral out of control for Stephen as the Morris campaign faces a major crossroad at the Ohio primaries.

The script is lean and economical (as is Clooney's direction), but sets up all of the pieces quite well, and the cast is uniformily solid, and they produced some good work in creating a world falling apart for Stephen, and how does he go about finding his bearings in such a political quagmire that unfolds in a merciless manner. It feels like a longer movie in terms of scope of plotlines, but it's actually paced quite well, coming in at about 100 minutes.

I give it 3.5 stars, or a grade of B+.

I saw this yesterday. Somehow...I didn't know Clooney directed this till last week.

Anyway...I liked it a lot. KIND OF reminded me of Sidney Lumet. Just the direction and focus of the camera...just felt...Lumet like at times. Very well controlled story and direction wise. Great cast and acting was very solid. Just felt..."real" in the sense that...nothing was too unbelievable.

Like mentioned before Wood needs to get roles that isn't THAT girl. After watching this..I think I know why. It's her voice. She's really good at getting that voice to quiver and crack when shit hits the fan. She's really good at it...but that's all she does most of the time for the stuff she gets.

Clooney and everyone else did solid work as I already mentioned but what stood out was Gosling. This was the most "mature" character Gosling has done. I liked him a lot. Those eyes just do so much for him.

For me I'd grade this as a very strong B+. It doesn't shake anything or change convention..but it's just very controlled and well done w/ it's storytelling

A fantastic film, in my opinion. It helps that the cast is loaded with my favorite performers. The movie is more about the political process, or politics in general, than it is about any one "side"; if anything, the few comments about Republicans in the film are all compliments (in a way).

Recommended. Surprised that it's not getting more discussion here.

Agree with everything you said word for word. Including surprised more aren't discussing it. All the main leads (except Wood) have either won or have been nominated for an Oscar. Great writing, acting and direction from Clooney. I give it a solid 8.5/10.