Michael Clayton
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Cast: George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, Sydney Pollack.
Written and directed by Tony Gilroy.
Story: Lawyer defends weedkiller manufacturer who's gone doolally.
Running Time: 1hr 59 minutes.
UK Certificate 15. |
I would never have bothered with Michael Clayton had it not been nominated for Best Picture. Glad I did now,
because it holds its head up high among the other nominees.
They're all very similar, this year's nominees. They're all slow-burners, they're all character- and script-led and there's
barely a car chase between them. Mind you, I suppose that's not all that unusual, but this year's contenders do seem
rather more closely related than usual. Michael Clayton has picked up all the big nominations - Best Picture, Best
Director, Best Original Screenplay and nominations for all three main players - George Clooney, Tilda Swinton and
Tom Wilkinson, and it's bound to win at least one of them. Curiously though, it doesn't stand out in any one of those
areas in particular, rather it's uniformly high quality throughout, which is a pretty good achievement since director Tony
Gilroy is a screenwriter (e.g. all the Bournes) who's never directed a movie before.
I haven't mentioned the story yet, have I? Well as usual you don't want to know very much beforehand.
George Clooney is Clayton, "The Fixer," a highly successful lawyer who
specialises in "tricky" situations, such as Tom Wilkinson's descent into fruitcakeness during the prolonged trial of his
weedkiller manufacturing business. In truth, there aren't as many twists and turns as you might expect from a movie like
this, but it really doesn't need them, because the trio of central performances would prop up any script. Well, maybe not
Why Did I Get Married, they're not gods. The quality of the stars helps us to
concentrate - and that helps, because we're treated like adults and expected to pay attention. If you're prone to drifting
like I am, you might misinterpret the odd moment or two - but it won't really matter if you do. What you might have a
problem with is remembering the movie a few years down the line, because the one thing it could benefit from is an
injection of character, of a signature look and feel. It's too similar to a million other lawyer-centric movies and so
will become assimilated into the movie-memory morass.
Michael Clayton is an extremely high quality movie that is arguably the best possible realisation of the story. You'll
like it, I guarantee it, you just won't remember it.
I enjoyed this film: 4/5
I think the average moviegoer will enjoy it: 5/5
Testosterone Satisfaction Rating: 0/5 - As with all the Oscar maybe's,
adrenaline junkies need to look elsewhere.
To enjoy this film you should: like George in talkie mode - e.g.
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Michael Clayton was released in the UK on 28th September 2007.
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