Nominated in: 2008
Did it win? No, the Oscar went to No Country for Old Men
Worth Watching? Yes
Standout performance: Tilda Swinton as Karen Crowder
Watchfl’s favorite quote: None come to mind. I think we’re all supposed to love “Do I look like I’m negotiating?!”, but lines like that make me cringe.
George Clooney is the big man on Hollywood’s campus. He’s never the most talented person in the room, but no one talks about that because he’s “such a great guy”. If only that were enough to make the rest of us wildly successful movie stars. . .
The entire industry’s apparent infatuation with Clooney explains (in part) how Michael Clayton could have been nominated for a Best Picture award. It was good, but in the same way that The Bourne Identity was good – not demanding special attention for timeless classicism. In fact, I prefer The Bourne Identity.
First, the story (though apparently based on a real one), is not new: a huge corporation made tons of money while pumping cancerous chemicals into farmland. When all surrounding residents start having health problems, a class-action lawsuit is filed and the huge corporation hires the best lawyers it can find – Michael Clayton’s firm. We’ve seen this exact situation in Erin Brokovich, and similar ones in The Rainmaker and The Pelican Brief (Julia Roberts must like this genre).
Thankfully, Michael Clayton differentiates itself by telling the story from the perspective of the bad guys, and limiting the arc of the plot to the cover-up of the damning evidence, instead of the investigation. Clooney’s character (I’m not using the name again) is a “fixer” for the firm, whose job description is a little fuzzy. Apparently he runs around trying to save the firm from itself, and in doing so he stumbles upon the cover-up of the century. What to do?
Really, tag line writer? I thought the meaning of “the truth” is that it can’t be adjusted.
Clooney’s acting was serviceable, which is my usual reaction to his performance. I saw nothing in it to distinguish from the one he gave in Batman and Robin. Or Ocean’s Eleven. Or One Fine Day. You get the point.
Don’t get me wrong, Michael Clayton is everything a legal suspense film ought to be: unpredictable (except for the ending), unsettling and sense-making if you pay close attention. I would recommend it, but not to The Academy.
3 Comments
June 6, 2008 at 5:26 am
[...] Nominated in: 2007 Did it win? No, the Oscar went to No Country for Old Men Standout performance: Tilda Swinton as Karen Crowder Watchfl’s favorite quote: None come to mind. I think we’re all supposed to love “Do I look like I’m negotiating?!”, but lines like that make me cringe. George Clooney is t … Source: Michael Clayton (or was it Erin Brokovich?) [...]
June 8, 2008 at 9:37 pm
I have to say that for all of the hype and positive reviews, I was extremely underwhelmed. It was definitely a solid legal thriller, but just like you’ve said, we’ve been down this road before from the plaintiff’s side, and just using the opposing legal side of the situation wasn’t enough to set this one apart. On top of that, the whole tone of the movie just didn’t do anything to keep me compelled, and I would argue that the whole plot line was very predictable. When I see movies like this nominated for Best Picture, I wonder what part of the puzzle is missing – is there something here that I just don’t get or is the academy just completely lacking integrity or taste. Either way, this one wasn’t even in the same ballpark as No Country or the other nominees.
June 9, 2008 at 2:28 am
I think it’s integrity that’s lacking. Or, at the very least, objectivity. Is there any other way to account for the obvious favorites (Clooney) and obvious snubs (Scorsese) over the years?