“The Ides of March”—a political drama filmed in Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Cincinnati earlier this year—opened nationally on Friday.

And despite a generally positive critical reception, and a cast packed with past Oscar winners and nominees (Paul Giamatti, Ryan Gosling, Marisa Tomei, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and George Clooney, who also directs the film), “Ides” would appear to be a dark horse in the pack of fall movie releases, since an 8 p.m. opening night screening at Rave Motion Pictures drew a crowd that didn’t even fill up half of the theater.

If this sample represents the level of interest within a locale that plays a(n uncredited) role in the film, you have to wonder: how will it play elsewhere? Movies about politics are a hard sell as a general rule; but given the media attention now focused on determining the GOP’s next presidential candidate, you can’t help but wonder if political fatigue will keep audiences away from “Ides” in droves.

Which is a shame, because while it’s not a perfect movie, it’s a pretty good one.

Plus, it’s fun to see the scenes in the University of Michigan’s Power Center, Arthur Miller Theatre, and Michigan League—not to mention brief glimpses of Ann Arbor fourth grader Talia Akiva playing Clooney’s daughter—sprinkled throughout the film.

“There was actually one scene shot outside my building, where I work,” said Rave patron Gail Kuhnlein, who works for U-M’s department of ecology and evolutionary biology, within the Natural Science Building. “ … Over and over, this woman was coming out and down the steps (of the Chemistry Building) in this red coat. But apparently the scene didn’t make it into the film.”

Kuhnlein and several friends, with whom she’d grown up in Troy, came to Friday’s screening primarily because of “Ides”’ local ties.

“That’s why we’re watching it,” said Grosse Pointe Farms’ Amy Sanford. “That’s why we came. We thought it would be fun. We’re going to see ‘Real Steel’ next.”

Kuhnlein and Sanford gave the film a positive review, as did Ann Arbor’s Mary Taylor, who came to the film with her daughter Megan and daughter-in-law Adrianne.

“It was awesome,” said Mary. “But then any movie George Clooney’s in is awesome. I’m a little partial.”

Mary works at Metro Airport’s control tower, so she’d previously had several chances to see Clooney at work on “Up in the Air” while it was being shot there (“My boss lost me for a week,” she said). Adrianne Taylor, meanwhile, worked as an “Ides” extra in the Power Center for one day.

“(Clooney) was 15 feet away from me,” said Adrianne, a photographer and mother of four boys. “I have pictures to prove it, too. We weren’t allowed to take pictures, but I hurried and took one so I could send it to (Mary) to show how close I was to him. So he turned around, and he was like, ‘I thought you weren’t supposed to take pictures.’ I just pointed to the girl next to me, and he (made a face). So we bonded for a moment.”

“Ides” stars Gosling as a political wunderkind who’s working to get the governor of Pennsylvania, played by Clooney, elected president. Along the way, he gets a crash course in the ruthless, sometimes dangerous games that happen behind the scenes in a high-stakes political campaign.

The picture “Ides” paints of the current election process is pretty cynical and bleak—the title itself quite deliberately conjures up the political back-stabbing and power grabs featured in Shakespeare's “Julius Caesar”—but the Taylors nonetheless felt very good about Ann Arbor playing a role in the film.

“I feel like people in Ann Arbor, if anything, would want people to see something like this,” said Megan Taylor. “ … I don’t know how much of that actually goes on, but I’m sure some stuff like that happens.”

Entertainment Weekly’s John Young predicts that, from a box office perspective, the Detroit-filmed Hugh Jackman vehicle “Real Steel” will likely take this weekend in a knockout, while “Ides” is expected to earn about half as much.

Judging by Friday night’s light turnout at Rave, “Ides” just might fall short. But time will tell what effect word of mouth, reviews, and Oscar buzz will ultimately have on the film.

Jenn McKee is the entertainment digital journalist for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.