Critics are quite pleased with George Clooney's latest directorial offering, The Ides of March; the taut political drama currently enjoys an 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes—although some of its supporters have qualms about its themes. Here's what they're saying:
- “Are you sitting down? George Clooney has some shocking news: Politics is a dirty business,” writes Ty Burr in the Boston Globe. “The Ides of March works hard to seem down and dirty, but it’s naive at heart.” Still it “rolls slickly along,” managing to be “derivative but fun—a West Wing episode with more marbles rolling around the board.”
- “The movie’s strength is in the acting,” writes Roger Ebert. “Clooney the director brings his actor’s experience to the job and attends closely to performance.” Gosling in particular has “an insistent presence.”