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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Ides_of_March_8051.jpg]]

''The Ides of March'' is a 2011 political thriller, starring Creator/GeorgeClooney, Creator/RyanGosling, Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman, Creator/PaulGiamatti, Creator/MarisaTomei, Creator/JeffreyWright and Creator/EvanRachelWood. It was written and directed by [[DirectedByCastMember Clooney]] (with co-writers Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon), based on Willimon's play ''Farragut North''.[[note]]Named after a UsefulNotes/WashingtonMetro station![[/note]]

The plot centres around Stephen (Gosling), an idealistic staffer on the presidential campaign of Governor Mike Morris (Clooney), who discovers some rather disturbing secrets about Morris and has to decide whether his career is more important than his ideals.

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!!Tropes in the film:

* AdaptationExpansion: Morris never appears in the stage play.
* [[BitchInSheepsClothing Bastard In Sheep's Clothing]]: [[spoiler: Morris, while in public, appears as a progressive and idealistic candidate with a strong desire to improve people's lives. However, in private, he is revealed to be capable of duplicity and is involved in an affair with a young and naive college student.]]
* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:After the idealist Stephen discovers that Governor Mike Morris is a ManipulativeBastard, he goes through a lot of drama, only to continue helping Morris win the presidential race in the end - with him deciding to become a manipulative bastard himself.]]
* {{Blackmail}}: In the end, Stephen blackmails Morris: either he fires Paul Zara and hires Stephen back, or Stephen discloses a letter written by [[spoiler:Molly where she tells about her affair with Morris]] (the said letter actually does not exist).
* ChekhovsGun: The identical cell phones given to the campaign staffers in the beginning. Later, Stephen picks up Molly's phone because he thinks that it is his. So he will hear that Molly [[spoiler:had a relationship with Morris]].
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:The film ends with Stephen realizing that he has sacrificed all of his ideals for personal ambition.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Molly, after being essentially abandoned by Stephen and Morris after her abortion.]]
* ElectionDayEpisode: An ongoing Presidential Election is the backdrop of this drama as [[WideEyedIdealist Stephen Meyers]] works on the campaign of [[ManipulativeBastard Mike]] [[SleazyPolitician Morris]].
* TheFilmOfThePlay: The film is based on a 2008 play by Beau Willimon, named ''Farragut North''.
* FriendsWithBenefits: Or rather colleagues with benefits in the case of Molly and Stephen. After they have sex for the first time, Stephen makes clear that Molly should not expect anything from this relationship.
* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: {{Inverted|Trope}}. Molly has an abortion, but this is depicted as the best option that she has and she is depicted as a victim. The experience is still traumatic for her.
* HaveYouToldAnyoneElse: [[spoiler: Hinted at. Morris attempts to lean on Stephen to gain Molly's suicide note. Stephen is able to brush him aside.]]
* HereWeGoAgain: [[spoiler:Another attractive intern who shows up almost exactly like Molly, with Stephen's friend also trying the same chat-up line.]]
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: [[spoiler:After spending most of the movie trying to fight against corrupt politics, Stephen embraces it.]]
* HollywoodAtheist: {{Averted}}. Morris is openly non-religious and states he cannot know if God or an afterlife exist, but also acts non-bitter, is entirely respectful of others' belief and states in the film that even if he doesn't share your religion, he'd fight to the death for your right to hold it. [[spoiler:Subverted as he's a power hungry scumbag underneath his tolerant rhetoric and ReasonableAuthorityFigure attitude.]]
* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: Tom Duffy did not order buffalo wings during his conversation with Stephen. Significant, because that was a detail both men would have known, [[spoiler:foreshadowing that the meeting was leaked by Paul.]]
* JaywalkingWillRuinYourLife:
-->"You broke the only rule in politics. You wanna be president? You can lie, you can cheat, you can start a war, you can bankrupt the country, but you can't [[spoiler:fuck the interns]]. They get you for that."
* LawOfInverseFertility: [[spoiler:Morris]] and Molly have sex once. Molly gets pregnant and she must have an abortion.
* MarriedToTheJob: Stephen tells Morris that he is married to the Governor's campaign. Ben tells the same thing.
* MayDecemberRomance: [[spoiler:Morris]] is a mature man ([[spoiler:George Clooney]] was about 50 when the film was made), but he had an affair with [[spoiler:Molly, who is only 20]].
%%* OnlySaneMan: Stephen could be seen as this.
* ShoutOut:
** [[LiteraryAllusionTitle The title alludes]] to [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare Shakespeare's]] ''Theatre/JuliusCaesar'', or more generally to the real-life assassination of UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar.
** The "I Like Mike" slogan calls back to Eisenhower's "I Like Ike" slogan.
** The posters also have taken inspiration from the UsefulNotes/BarackObama posters. (Believe, instead of hope, is the slogan.)
* PyrrhicVictory: Stephen gets what he wants in the end. [[spoiler: Except that he drove his girlfriend to suicide and the candidate he sacrificed everything for is a lying hypocrite. While he has all the power and prestige he wants, he's accomplished nothing and sacrificed his self-respect.]]
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Paul delivers an absolutely ''brutal'' one to Stephen.
* SleazyPolitician: [[spoiler:Morris is happy Stephen took care of the problem and doesn't really care how he did it.]]
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: The ending is a little more open to interpretation, but otherwise it's non-stop cynicism. The message seems to be "Regardless of how awesome someone's policies and public face seems to be, they're still a bastard in private".
* TitleDrop: Subverted. The film's working title of "Farragut North" gets name-dropped twice (it's where former campaign managers go when the campaign ends) while the film's actual title is never name-dropped.
* ViewersAreGeniuses: Understanding much of the plot of the film such as why Senator Thompson's endorsement is so crucial requires some beyond basic understanding of the US presidential primary system. This might've hurt the film's overseas box office performance a bit.
* VillainWithGoodPublicity: [[spoiler:Mike Morris who is selfish and manipulative. Stephen by the end of the film has also lost his sheen and has been corrupted by politics.]]
* WhatTheHellHero: Paul Zara calls Stephen out for being disloyal because he met Tom Duffy, a rival campaign manager.
* XanatosGambit: Tom's plan -- as soon as Stephen walks into the bar, he wins. [[spoiler:Either Stephen takes the job, and their campaign gains an asset, or he turns it down and confesses to Paul, in which case he gets fired and is no longer a factor. The worst case scenario would be him turning down the job and keeping his mouth shut, in which case he'd be lying to his own colleagues, which would drive a wedge between them.]]
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