The Ides of March

Let's have a quiz- how many ways can you spell CLICHE? Well, there's THAT way and then there is "Ides of March".  It's supposed to be a story of political intrigue and how dirty politics are. But it starts out with every liberal anti-Republican cliche that can be said- but lo and behold, then it skippitydoodahs right on out of there so that George Clooney can show you that Democrats can be just as bad. What a surprise- who knew? Clooney, a die hard liberal despite his villa in Lake Como, carbon footprint like Sasquatch and fake teeth, has remade a mishmash of The Candidate, True Colors, Murder at 1600, Power and probably almost every other political movie except Mr Smith Goes to Washington. Look, I love George Clooney in the abstract- he is funny and dashing and doesn't pretend to be interested in home and hearth- fine by me. But this film is carried totally  by the cast because it is a great cast. There is nothing new- not a damn thing. Not even the interpretation. All politicians use the public- because all politicians want to be elected and they don't CARE- repeat after me- they DO NOT CARE- they are saying what YOU want to hear. They might trick themselves into thinking they believe it UNLESS their numbers come in poorly. If you don't understand that about politics, you might be mad at Clooney for picking Democrats to be the focus of the movie rather than the opposition to Democrats (of any ilk).  I don't care one way or the other- he's a multi multi millionaire and I'm not - and that's my problem not his (if it IS a problem). But to make a contrived film that's as predictable as Biden and McCain being best friends, well, jeezuz louisus, George- gimme a break. Any critic who calls this movie profound is an idiot. Okay- here's something- the lighting was fantastic. Kudos to the set designer, too.  Enjoy the handsomeness (excluding Giamatti and Hoffman) because that is all you are getting. It's called the Ides of March and as much as you are hoping for it, no one gets stabbed 23 times. Now THAT would have been a movie!