The Ides of March Blu-ray Review

In The Ides of March, Ryan Gosling – a star who's had one helluva year – plays a young, idealistic political adviser named Stephen. He's working for an equally (perhaps overly) idealistic Democrat governor running for President (George Clooney). But when Stephen is cornered with not one, but two controversies – both career-ending for both men – he's unsure of whether he should hold his idealistic ground, or take the shortcut to political power.

No offense, Mr. Clooney, but we get it. Politics is a dirty game. It always has been. It always will be. As such, The Ides of March is not a particularly memorable movie, nor does it focus on a refreshing or fascinating aspect of politics not uncovered in other political dramas. Instead, Clooney's latest directorial effort retreads an age-old theme, cleans it up with a few glossy A-listers, and pretends it's shoveling something new.

That probably came off harsh, but even though the film replays events seen in dozens of other political dramas/thrillers, I did end up enjoying the picture. It's extraordinarily well-acted, tightly edited, beautifully shot, and features a great script built on sharp dialogue and tremendously rich characters.

Paul Giamatti and Philip Seymour Hoffman deliver outstanding performances so good you'll wish the film were about them instead. And Gosling is pretty good as the politically beaten and bruised adviser, even if his transition to "the dark side of politics" is crafted on tired political controversy. Clooney is a bit shaky, though, struggling to give gravitas to his almost agonizingly liberal character, which plays especially sour after the first act. You'd almost think a conservative wrote his dialogue to turn off Democrat-leaning moderates come election season.

But I digress. If you want a slice of political junk food, The Ides of March should prove tasty, like a little leftover morsel from The West Wing era. It's certainly not cunning, or original, but it does entertain and occasionally provide some insight, not to mention some great dialogue exchanges. Beyond that, unfortunately, the film is a bit too idealistically cynical.

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The Ides of March touches down on Blu-ray encoded in 1080p/AVC, mixed in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. I was pleased to see that George Clooney stuck with film for this feature. As such, there's a grainy, filmic sheen that gives some credence to the dramatic cues of the narrative. I dig HD cameras, but they don't always work with films like this, often rendering a more TV-like environment. The encode is a knockout, with crisp, detailed images, fine shadows and well-defined textures. I didn't spot any intrusive noise, off-balance colors or artifacting to gum up the show. This transfer is a great representation of the life left in film, and the magic it can sometimes bring to a story.

The film's 5.1 audio mix does what it needs to do, but don't expect it to wow on any level. This dialogue-driven narrative comes off as clean, though never very lively. The center channel is free of any distortion or crackles. Beyond a smattering of crowd scenes though, this mix is mostly center-locked. Bass and discrete surround cues are kept to the bare minimum, to a level where I almost pondered whether the film was intentionally mixed with a mono-like feel. Still, it does what it needs to do, and pulls it off with ease. That's more than I can say for some mixes out there of a similar nature.

Extras are driven by a thoroughly enjoyable commentary from George Clooney and producer/co-writer Grant Heslov. The two engage in a jovial discussion of politics, cynicism and the making of the film. If you like the movie, give it a listen. The track will not disappoint. Other extras include four brief EPK featurettes, two of which are exclusive to the Blu-ray. All told, there's about 25 minutes of material, presented in HD. As usual, Sony also stocks the disc with numerous trailers and promotional materials, not to mention BD-Live connectivity.


As far as political thrillers/dramas go, The Ides of March falls somewhere in the middle. But if you've got the time, give the film a spin regardless. There's a lot to like, and a little to love about this movie, even if the story plays a little tired.

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