My Review of The Ides of March

Before seeing The Ides of March, you might want to either do a quick read of Julius Caesar, or at least the synopsis.  It may help you find the story a bit more interesting.  It's not a completely boring story, it's just a little slow going.  Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and George Clooney do wonders to keep the action moving along.
Stephen Meyers (Gosling) is a lead staffer on the campaign to get Clooney (Gov. Mike Morrise) elected to the President of the United States.  He supports people and causes he actually believes in, which we all can see is quite rare in politics.  He believes his candidate is exactly what the country needs.  But when scandals ensue, which isn't a total surprise in a political movie, which master will be choose to become a servant of?
Much like Brutus in Julius Caesar, Stephen starts out being motivated by patriotism and honor.  But will he follow Cassius and become engulfed in greed and envy?  The Ides of March does a very good job of not defining characters as mere heroes or villains.  It is more complicated than that, as it most always is.  If you choose to parallel the story with Julius Caesar, as I clearly have, the ending will be somewhat satisfying to you.  If you choose to look at this story on its own, you will walk away wanting more resolution.
The biggest flaw here is that there were some crucial bits of story that we did not get to see, but merely heard about.  I'm fine with not getting to see every little  moment in the story, but when you build up to something, you need to reward your audience.
The story is okay.  If you are going to try and parallel such a well known story, you should really stick to it.  There were some surprising twist and turns.  And others that were not so surprising.  But that's not the reason to see this movie.  The reason to see The Ides of March is for the incredible acting performances by a dream team of actors.  This movie is loaded with amazing acting moments, the kitchen confrontation between Gosling and Clooney is particularly good.
The Ides of March is a one time see, but a one time see that is worth your time if you want to invest in some great acting.