Rolling Stone is calling it a “pulse-racing thriller.”

For a group of local women, the review of the film “The Ides of March,” which opened in theaters Oct. 7, is a gross understatement.

That’s because in March, the seven friends who graduated from Waite High School together in 1965 had the thrill of being extras in a scene in the movie that stars George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti and Marisa Tomei.

At Left Bunco Club members outside Christ Church Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, MI on the day of filming. At right, George Clooney and Ryan Gosling during filming of "Ides of March". (Photos courtesy of Cathy Caldwell)

Clooney also directed the film, which takes place during the frantic last days before a heavily contested Ohio presidential primary. It focuses on a rising young campaign press secretary (Gosling) who finds himself involved in a political scandal that could upend his candidate’s run for the Oval Office.

Filming took place in Ohio – mostly in Cincinnati and Oxford – and in Michigan. (Clooney grew up near the Cincinnati area.)

Attending the filming was a once-in-a-lifetime adventure for Cathy (Brown) Caldwell, Carol (Sharlow) Krotzer, and Barbara (Farkas) Fisher, of Northwood; Mary (Nassar) Breymaier, of Oak Harbor; RoseMary (Farkas) Cook, of Point Place; Sandy (Parks) Donahue, of Highland, Mich. and Kathy (Matheson) Hall, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

And they’ve had quite a few good times in the more than 50 years they’ve been friends.

“We’ve been meeting every month since we graduated,” Caldwell said. “We call ourselves ‘the Bunco Club’ though we haven’t played years – ever since it got to the point we were talking more than we were playing and couldn’t remember whose turn it was.

“As our kids got older and everyone got busier, we decided to start meeting at a restaurant once a month,” she said. “We’ve also gone on trips together – we’ve had lots of good times.”

For the most part, the women stayed close geographically too. “There were 12 of us, and two moved away and one goes to Florida for the winter,” Caldwell said.

The friends’ serendipitous “15 minutes of fame” – probably less after editing – came about after Clooney, looking for a church in which to film a funeral scene, approached Kathy Hall’s husband Gary, rector at Christ Church Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

“The scene also called for about 300 mourners. In addition to paid extras, some spots would be available for members of the community.

“Gary thought it would be a good opportunity to raise funds for community outreach, so some of the seats in the first few rows were auctioned to the highest bidder,” Caldwell said. “Others spots were available for a $75 donation.”  On March 21, dressed in their finest funeral garb, the “Bunco Club” entourage, which included the women and Caldwell’s husband, Bill, headed to the church, prepared to mourn their hearts out on cue.

Caldwell’s grandson, Jake Vriezelaar – an eighth-grader at Eisenhower Middle School and a budding filmmaker himself ¬ also went along.

“Filming lasted the whole day; but it was very exciting,” Caldwell said. “George Clooney is very meticulous – stopping to change lighting on the church flowers, raising and lowering the casket, etc.”

The group was split up, arranged in seats by the film crew. Gary Hall portrayed the Catholic priest who presided at the funeral.

For those who may be wondering, Caldwell reports that yes, Clooney is as handsome in person as he is on the big screen. “And he’s very personable and really funny too.  

“At one point, he was so close, I could reach out and touch him, but I didn’t want to get myself thrown out,” she said.

Gosling and Hoffman were also present for the filming, as was Gregory Itzin, who was in the TV series, “24.”

As the film’s release date approached, the Bunco Club girls watched anxiously for the trailer and other information on the Internet.

“We hope the scene made the movie,” Caldwell said. “My grandson was able to find a screenshot of the funeral scene on the website, but we’ll see.

“I was able to pick myself and my husband out in the shot, which lasted a fraction of a second,” she said.

The women had plans to go see “The Ides of March” at the theaters in Levis Commons in Perrysburg on Friday night. Unfortunately, young Jake won’t be able to see the film, which is rated R, his grandmother said.

Pictured outside Christ Church Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. on the day of filming for “Ides of March” are  “Bunco Club” members (from left) RoseMary Cook, Carol Krotzer, Cathy Caldwell, Barbara Fisher, Sandy  Donahue, Mary Breymaier and Kathy Hall. “Bunco Club” members Connie (Domonkos) Goda, of Oregon, and Sharon Ballert, of  Toledo were not able to attend the filming.

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