Michael Clayton…

Good movie?
You bet your saline solution it is. However, I find the title to be mighty lousy, if this is an open forum to express such personal viewpoints. That’s my opinion and I’m keeping it. A friend of mine defended the choice of title, explaining, “It’s refreshing in a sense, to not have a classic throwaway high-octane thriller title.” True, but it’s still a bad title. For one, there is a football player currently in the NFL with the exact same name. That’s confusing. Two, the title is so pedestrian and un-catchy. Three, Jerry Maguire is a similar type of “name of a random dude” title and it’s unwise to be associated with that movie. Cameron Crowe needs chin surgery. His face reminds me of a freeze frame that’s 35% into a time-lapse photography sequence in which a very normal man’s head transforms into that of the sad Elephant Man-looking teenager from the movie, Mask.

George Clooney, however, is a handsome gentleman, and I don’t mean that in a gay way. He has become the Cary Grant of our age, which is impressive considering how lame we all thought he was in that Batman movie.

G.C. is today’s C.G.

Or, G.C. = C.G.

See how perfect that math is? Not unlike a crystal clear reflection (even though C.G. dropped loads of LSD in the swingin’ ’60s). The films G.C. directs are also pretty alright, I might mention.

Michael Clayton is a really smooth, smart thriller — what all those Grisham films should have been. This is classy stuff, taking its time to unravel with a sang-froid hand.

Tom Wilkinson! The actor is so damn capable. Love it. And Tilda Swinton… ditto. Sydney Pollack, I must admit, is a bit typecast in this one. It’s like his character from Eyes Wide Shut decided to take a hiatus from clandestine mansion orgies to helm a morally-questionable corporate law office. The strange authority he effortlessly emits is kind of a bummer to behold, actually. Cannot imagine audiences appreciating it. Give him props for making Tootsie, however. Ever seen his 1975 film, The Yakuza? No? Keep it that way. Oh, The White Shadow gives an effective, quiet performance in Michael Clayton, too.

OK, there it is. Recommended! There is an almost cheeseball scene regarding horses on a hill, but the film sort of redeems itself of that image because a surprising car bomb goes off just then.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 8th, 2007 at 4:33 pm and is filed under Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.