Michael Clayton
"The Truth can be Adjusted"
I saw "Michael Clayton" over a week a go now and so I thought I'd finally write a quick review.
First off I think the casting in the movie was terrific, George Clooney was extrememly powerful as the title character and its always nice to see Sydney Pollack in some form of high powered lawyer (think of his role in "Changing Lanes" - though this time he is'nt actually in on the conspiracy). Clooney really sells his performance of a man barley holding on to his life. There seems to be a perception that he has it all, but in reality he litterally has nothing. There is a great line in the movie where a client is being rather abusive and claims he was told "you were a miracle worker" to which Clooney responds "I'm not a miriacle worker, I'm a janitor" I really loved that line as it sums up rather neatly Michael Claytons role in the entire movie, he just cleans up other peoples messes.
The story was very satisfying, with just enough mystery to keep you interested. I personally am a fan of the 'circular' structure of storytelling. By that I mean circumstances when we are shown a little peice of the ending first, then go back x amount of hours, days etc to find out what events transpired to get to that point. This movie makes use of this mechanic by showing a
'snippet' of the ending at the beggining of the movie.
Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton also give terrific performance in the movie. Their characters are much more 'forceful' when on screen, it makes for a nice compliment to Clooney (Clayton) who appaers as a much more dark and dour character throughout the first 3 acts.
Overall I was very impressed by the movie. I went in with quite high expectations and I can honestly say they were satisfied, even surpassed at times. Bottom line - see this movie while it's in theatres, it's one you definatly dont want to miss.
4 out of 5 stars.
I saw "Michael Clayton" over a week a go now and so I thought I'd finally write a quick review.
First off I think the casting in the movie was terrific, George Clooney was extrememly powerful as the title character and its always nice to see Sydney Pollack in some form of high powered lawyer (think of his role in "Changing Lanes" - though this time he is'nt actually in on the conspiracy). Clooney really sells his performance of a man barley holding on to his life. There seems to be a perception that he has it all, but in reality he litterally has nothing. There is a great line in the movie where a client is being rather abusive and claims he was told "you were a miracle worker" to which Clooney responds "I'm not a miriacle worker, I'm a janitor" I really loved that line as it sums up rather neatly Michael Claytons role in the entire movie, he just cleans up other peoples messes.
The story was very satisfying, with just enough mystery to keep you interested. I personally am a fan of the 'circular' structure of storytelling. By that I mean circumstances when we are shown a little peice of the ending first, then go back x amount of hours, days etc to find out what events transpired to get to that point. This movie makes use of this mechanic by showing a
'snippet' of the ending at the beggining of the movie.
Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton also give terrific performance in the movie. Their characters are much more 'forceful' when on screen, it makes for a nice compliment to Clooney (Clayton) who appaers as a much more dark and dour character throughout the first 3 acts.
Overall I was very impressed by the movie. I went in with quite high expectations and I can honestly say they were satisfied, even surpassed at times. Bottom line - see this movie while it's in theatres, it's one you definatly dont want to miss.
4 out of 5 stars.