The First ‘Ides of March’ Reviews Are In, and They’re Mixed-to-Positive

Of all the films debuting at the Venice Film Festival, the most hotly anticipated was George Clooney's "The Ides of March," picked by Movie City News' Gurus O' Gold to be the August leader in the Best Picture Oscar race. The film was scheduled to open the Festival, which was set to begin on Wednesday, which is today, and Venice is six hours ahead of New York, which means ... holy cow, that movie has already screened!

Indeed, the Twitter feeds for movie dorks blew up this morning, as early reaction to the premiere poured in. We don't like to read reviews for movies we haven't seen yet -- you never know what sort of subliminal thought grenade might get stuck in the brain -- but we figure we should probably give you some idea of what people who have seen it are saying.

So: Is this still the Oscar leader? Well, the reviews have been generally positive ... but, to our eyes, not that positive. Some glimpses:

David Gritten, The Telegraph: "A smart, confident kick start to a notably strong Venice film festival."

Xan Brooks, The Guardian: "Your classic compromise candidate: a film that set out with a crusading zeal but had its rough edges planed down en route to the nomination."

Tom Shone: "It seems to give Clooney no joy."

Guy Lodge, In Contention: "Neat, diverting ethics lesson only feigns cynicism while staring earnestly aghast at the dirtiness of politicos."

So there you go. Now read nothing more about the film until we review ourselves. Deal? Deal.

The Ides Of March Is A Gripping Return To Form For Clooney [The Playlist]