THE IDES OF MARCH (15, 100 mins) ****
Starring Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, Max Minghella. Director: George Clooney.

Away from the glitz of the red carpet, George Clooney has exploited his celebrity to prick consciences.

After his rousing speech to the United Nations’ Security Council, pleading for a resolution to the Darfur conflict ( he made a documentary with his father on the subject), Clooney was appointed a United Nations messenger of peace He also organised the 2010 telethon to raise money for the survivors of the Haiti earthquake.

Behind the camera, his award-winning films have bared teeth at the political establishment, most notably in Good Night, And Good Luck.

The Oscar-winning film-maker takes more pot-shots at Capitol Hill in this expertly-paced thriller which begs the question: if politics is such a dirty business, why do the men in expensive suits, who rake the muck, come out smelling of roses and we’re left feeling grubby?

Clooney cranks up the tension as he depicts the Machiavellian plots of the men desperate to breach the upper-echelons of power, who will sacrifice idealism and honour for ambition and greed.

The film hits the campaign trail with high-flying Democrat presidential candidate Governor Mike Morris (Clooney), who has a knack for spouting the perfect sound bite with a winning smile.

Flanked by his ballsy campaign manager Paul Zara (Hoffman) and brilliant press secretary Stephen Meyers (Gosling), Morris seems destined for the White House.

However, an ill-advised dalliance with seductive intern Molly Stearns (Wood) leaves Morris’s reputation hanging by a thread as New York Times journalist Ida Horowicz (Tomei) and the other media vultures begin to circle.

Meanwhile, rival campaign manager Tom Duffy (Giamatti) looks for chinks in Morris’s armour, knowing that everything hinges on the endorsement of influential Senator Thompson (Wright).

The hugely-engrossing thriller doesn’t get too bogged down in the political process, concentrating more on the abrasive personalities responsible for getting a well-groomed mouthpiece into the Senate and hopefully into the White House.

Clooney is charm personified and Hoffman and Giamatti are deliciously oily as rival puppet masters.

Once again it’s Gosling who delivers the stand-out performance, transforming from a wide-eyed strategist, convinced that Morris is the man to affect lasting change, into an emotionally-shattered husk.

The machinations of the final 20 minutes feel too neat and the dialogue doesn’t drip with enough bile, but Clooney’s film slickly and stylishly campaigns for our attention and largely gets our vote.