Political drama directed by George Clooney and starring Ryan Gosling as an idealistic young press secretary who gets caught up in the cynicism of a modern day election campaign. Based on a play by Beau Willimon, the film finds Stephen Myers (Gosling) working for progressive candidate Governor Mike Morris (Clooney) as he hopes to become the presidential nominee for the Democratic Party. Stephen is the right-hand man of experienced press secretary Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and coveted by the director of the rival Democratic campaign, Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti). After an ill-advised secret meeting with Tom - not to mention an equally ill-advised secret romance with young staffer Molly Stearns (Evan Rachel Wood) - the tables turn and Stephen finds himself facing life on the political scrapheap. The victim of 'dirty politics', Stephen appears to face a stark choice between maintaining his ideals, thereby losing his career, or fighting fire with fire.