Oscar®- and Golden Globe-nominated writer-director George Clooney has assembled the leading actors of our generation to star in this riveting thriller. The cast has received a combined 13 Academy Award® nominations, 3 Academy Awards®, 23 Golden Globe nominations and 6 Golden Globe Awards.

With sharp, quick-witted dialogue and set against the spectacle of modern world power and politics, The Ides of March is an intense tale of sex, ambition, loyalty, betrayal and revenge. The film follows a young press spokesman who falls prey to backroom politics, the treacherous manipulations of veteran operatives and seduction by a young intern.

In the film, George Clooney plays Governor Morris, a candidate running in the presidential primary race for the Democratic Party ticket. Ryan Gosling plays his press spokesman, Philip Seymour Hoffman plays his campaign manager, Paul Giamatti plays a rival campaign manager, Marisa Tomei plays a reporter for the New York Times, Evan Rachel Wood plays an intern for the Morris campaign, Jeffrey Wright plays a key senator, and Max Minghella plays Ben Harper, a campaign worker for Morris.

Since 2002, actor George Clooney has directed four films, with a consistent three-year gap between the release of each film. While not the best of Hollywood filmmakers, Clooney's films are at the very least smart and savvy. His latest, The Ides of March, based on the play "Farragut North" by Beau Willimon, is just that. Willimon adapts his own play and co-writes together with Clooney and Grant Heslov (Good Night, and Good Luck, 2005) in this political drama that is more intriguing than it is engaging.

Nominated for the Golden Lion, The Ides of March stars Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Evan Rachel Wood, and Marisa Tomei in what has to be one of the most exceptional ensemble casts of the year. Gosling plays the lead role Stephen Meyers, an idealistic member of Governor Morris' (Clooney) campaign team who becomes embroiled in dirty politics as he struggles to stay sane in light of accusations, scandals, and tragedy. The rest of the cast provide excellent supporting turns with a couple of outstanding monologues from Hoffman and Giamatti.

Intense performances drive this film, without which it would probably fail because this is a dialogue-centric film that requires actors to exercise strong verbal acumen. Clooney uses a lot of close-ups as facial expressions become paramount to conveying emotions as compared to the general body language. This is evident in the film's lengthy final shot of Stephen's face as he gets ready for an interview, and in another scene where Governor Morris is puzzled and apprehensive as a call by a recently deceased reaches his phone.

Much of the drama in The Ides of March comes from the political tension that arises as a result of the mind games that each side play to gain an upper hand. Is this what we have come to know about politics? Morris' determination to get a foothold in Ohio so that he could stand a chance at a nomination is juxtaposed with Stephen's mounting personal problems, some of which are intertwined with his job. Clooney makes the effort to turn up the dial for intrigue as complications rise with each political and personal decision by the characters, rash or otherwise.

Unfortunately, the film is less than the sum of its parts. It is engaging to a certain extent with the strong performances providing some needed bite. But the intrigue that is so well developed in the first two acts slowly fizzles out of gas by the time the film reaches its climax. The cinematic experience becomes slightly diluted when the film could have left audiences with a punch to the gut. Politics is indeed a dirty game, and Clooney's film clearly shows this with some intricacy. However, it is not potent enough a bullet to strike anger in audiences to demand immediate political accountability.