Michael Clayton (2007)

Tom Wilkinson and George Clooney

Now here is a movie that you probably have heard of: Michael Clayton. It stars George Clooney and was nominated for 7 Oscars, with Tilda Swinton winning for Best Supporting Actress. It is rated R for some coarse language and some brief violence.

Mark -
This is a movie that I have been meaning to watch since shortly after it was released on DVD but have just now gotten to. George Clooney plays the lead character of Michael Clayton, an attorney in a large New York law firm, who’s role is to be "the fixer". Basically the easiest and simplest way to describe his role would be that if someone else screws up, its Clayton’s responsibility to make things right. The main focus of the movie involves a multibillion dollar personal injury/wrongful death lawsuit in which the firm is representing the defendant. As lead counsel, Arthur Eders (Tom Wilkinson), has a relapse of manic-depressive behavior during the middle of a deposition, Clayton is called in to work his magic in stabilizing both Eders and the unsettling incident which Eders created. Clayton does his best to mitigate the damage from the situation, but little does he know that the firms client has decided that they also need to take matters into their own hands. Events turn dangerous for all involved.

Wilkinson gives a great performance and is more than worthy of the best supporting actor nomination he received. Clooney also gives a great performance, but to show how good of an actor he has become, his role as Michael Clayton doesn’t seem to be all that different from many other roles which he has played. The film does a nice job of showing the ethical and moral dilemmas attorneys sometimes face, and how paths of good and bad are chosen by different attorneys.

The film received a lot of praise and deservingly so, however it is far from a perfect movie in my view. To begin with, I hated the ending. The film engrosses you so much into the role and life of Clayton, and unfortunately delivers nothing but speculation and questions in the end. My other major criticism is that I actually feel like there were too many minor characters thrown into the movie. The minor characters and minor subplots in many ways create more confusion and distraction than contribution to the movie.

Having said that I still thought this was a very good movie and would recommend it for anyone who has not seen it. 4 * out of 5

My Random Thought For Michael Clayton: Tilda Swinton won the Oscar for best supporting actress for her role in the film, and all I can really say to that is that is this goes to show how weak the performances really were that year.

Dan -
I don't know what it is about movies that involve the legal system, but they are made on a regular basis and a lot of them are really good. I am puzzled by this because from what I know about the legal system, which is more than the average guy but less than a lawyer, legal battles and such are extremely boring. Especially court hearings. Side note: In reality, there are no surprises in the legal system due to the rule of disclosure. Hollywood allows such things to make a movie more exciting, and really, can you blame them?

Back to the movie at hand. Mark explained the plot in his review, so read the summary above. All I will say is that what gets this movie going is one man's reaction to the answer of this question: What happens when the client you are representing, who has generated literally tens of millions of dollars in revenue, turns out to be the enemy? This movie isn't about the legal battle itself or the courtroom drama and there isn't any of the latter. This billion dollar lawsuit is on the verge of settling when Clooney comes in to fix problems created by the lead counsel on the case.

Performances: Tilda Swinton was weak. How she actually won the Oscar can only be chalked up to a year of weak performances in this category overall. I could still hear her Scottish accent peeking through some of her lines. It simply was not a remarkable performance to me. But who knows, maybe I missed the point, and the genius behind her performance is that I would expect a woman in her position to have a strong dose of confidence and she chose to play it a little apprehensive. Maybe her strength is conveying the fear and uncertainty of an experienced attorney who ends up (mild spoiler alert!) crossing the line. Her most fascinating scene is where she is crouched in the bathroom, drenched in sweat, and agonizing over the decision she has just made. That helps to suck you right in to her character, so credit is given where credit is due. And Tom Wilkinson was brilliant. Of all the nominees in Supporting Actor that year, he could have easily been given the Oscar among his fellow nominees (Javier Bardem actually won for his creepy killer in No Country For Old Men). He gives a crazy character some unexpected depth. And every scene he's in with Clooney is simply terrific. Two experienced actors playing well off each other with great dialogue.

Speaking of dialogue, this is really a great script that could really have been confusing, but Tony Gilroy (who wrote the Bourne movies) did a superb job at not spelling everything out and leaving things up to the audience to figure out and/or interpret for themselves. If I have one complaint, it's that I was slightly sidetracked by a couple of subplots that involved Clooney. One was his relationship with his son, and the other is that he is trying to square away a large debt he incurred while trying to open a bar. At least the overall point of the latter ties into the main plot easier than the former.

Here is one of the best movies released in 2007, although I do know of other people who did not like it as much as me, like the lady who gave me her DVD that she bought at my recommendation, and Mark (see above). It made my top ten of 2007, coming in at #4 and I give this movie 5 out of 5 stars.

Fallen (1998)

John Goodman and Denzel Washington

Going back to a Denzel Washington movie for this one. It was made by Gregory Hoblit, who has directed some pretty decent movies like Frequency and Primal Fear. Fallen is rated R for language and violence.

Dan -
This is another movie that has been sitting in my Netflix queue for more than a couple of years as it gradually made its way to the top. I worked at a movie theater when this movie was originally released and had seen the last 2 minutes of it more than I can count, but I have never watched it from the beginning. So the bad thing is that I knew how the movie ended, but the good thing was that I still liked the rest of it even when I knew how it ended.

I'll let Mark deal with the plot explanations except to say that Denzel Washington is a detective who has caught, convicted, and seen through the execution serial killer Edgar Reese. The intrigue starts after the execution and he investigates several murders that mimic Reese's crimes.

Be warned that this is a movie filled with supernatural elements. That being said, if you aren't interested in stuff like that which deals with themes of faith, God, evil spirits, etc. you may want to skip this movie. It is well made with some clever cinematography and the fantastic use of The Rolling Stones' music. I can almost guarantee that you will be humming one of their songs when the movie's over. And the last song in particular strikes me as funny especially considering the title of it. Look it up when the movie's over.

This becomes a tough movie to review because you as a reader most likely have not seen this movie, and may not have even heard of it. Adding to that is the fact that I don't want to give anything away. I will only say that there is a lot of point-of-view shots that are distorted to give clues as to what is happening. I am not trying to hype this up as a fantastic movie, so don't get me wrong about that. But I thought it got better as it went along and I had half a smile at how it ended.

I give this movie 3 stars out of 5. Honestly, it's probably a one-timer. If it's on TV, check it out or DVR it. You won't miss anything if it's edited anyway.

Mark -
I have to admit that I’m really not sure yet how I actually feel about this movie. It kept me entertained and I wanted to know what happened next, but at the same time it seemed that as the movie progressed it also digressed. This is the first time I’ve seen this movie, and to be honest I didn’t know anything about it. I love it when I get the opportunity to see a movie I don’t know anything about, but it seems rare that such things happen, because how can you know that you want to watch something if you don’t know that it even exists?

The movie focuses on Detective John Hobbes, played by Denzel Washington. Hobbes has put away an infamous serial killer named Edgar Reese, and witnesses Reese’s execution by lethal injection. The same night as the execution of Reese, Hobbes begins to have reoccurrences of ways that Reese would torment him. Hobbes begins to receive phone calls in the middle of the night in which no one speaks on the other end of the line, and he also begins to hear people singing the same song that Hobbes did right before his execution. As a number of murders begin to pile up around town, it is thought that possibly a copycat murderer is doing the killing. As more and more strange phenomena take place, it seems unlikely that a copycat would be able to have all of the inside information to be able to pull off such accuracy of impersonation. Things start to go from bad to worse for Hobbes as it starts to look like he may be the one committing the murders.

I don’t really want to give away everything in this movie so I’m going to stop my summary part of the movie at that point. I really enjoyed the mystery side of this movie, but there is also a supernatural side of events that somewhat turned me off. I thought the first half of the movie was much better than the second half. I will give it credit for at least having an ending that is an ending, unlike a lot of movies. 3 ½ * out of 5

My Random Thought For Fallen: Hobbes partner, Jonesy, is played by John Goodman and has some great one liners in this movie including, "If it wasn't for pizza and other fine Italian foods, there would be no happiness."

Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio

Here for your reading pleasure is our take on Catch Me If You Can. It is rated PG-13 for language, including 1 F-bomb (the delivery of which is hilarious), and some sexual situations/content.

Mark -
This is one of those movies that I actually seem to enjoy the more times I watch it. Obviously any movie that Steven Spielberg directs is a big deal, and when you have his reputation you can be selective in what you want your name tied to. Seeing that every movie begins with the script, it would seem fairly obvious to assume that many people thought this project had a lot of promise.
Not all big movies with major actors are a success, but it definitely helps to have the odds in your favor by having a number of stars appearing in the same film. Any filmmaker would love to have either Leonardo DiCaprio or Tom Hanks as the star in their movie, and to have both in the same movie must have been a dream come true. Add in the appearances of Christopher Walken, and Martin Sheen and the cast keeps getting easier and easier to work with it must seem. Its fun to watch this movie and see the likes of relatively unknown actresses, at the time, Amy Adams, Elizabeth Banks, and Jennifer Garner (granted she had received some notoriety before this film thanks to Alias).
The film focuses on the life of Frank Abagnale Jr (DiCaprio), and his early crime spree life. Abagnale Jr is considered to be one of the youngest and most clever criminals in our history. Starting in his late teens Abagnale Jr discovers the simplicity of passing fraudulent checks and impersonates a pilot, doctor, and attorney. The second focus of the film is that of Detective Carl Hanratty (Hanks) attempting to catch Abagnale Jr. Hanratty seems to be a great agent behind a desk, but in his attempts to catch Abagnale Jr it seems he becomes completely oblivious to the most obvious of circumstances.
This film is fun to watch as you see Abagnale Jr take on these different identities, and wonder how he could pull off the credibility to perform such skilled professions. It is equally fun to watch Hanratty and his agents' attempts to track down Abagnale Jr, and the realization of what moves are being taken to always keep Abagnale Jr one step ahead.
Last of all is the fact that I love the music from this movie. John Williams did an amazing job with the score for the film and is something that will stay in your head for hours at a time. The score truly brings to mind the thoughts of a criminal sneaking around and avoiding capture.
While the whole movie seems so far fetched, you are always wondering how someone could possibly pull off all the schemes that Abagnale Jr does. A large part of the fun of this movie is in wondering how much of it truly did happen. 4 stars out of 5.
My Random Thought For Catch Me If You Can: I wonder how many people have told Carl Hanratty's knock knock joke from this movie.


The real Frank Abagnale, Jr.

Dan-
Who knew that check fraud could be this interesting and entertaining? Having worked at two different banks and now in the legal system, I have some basis to say that check fraud is extremely boring and tedious. So a big pat on the back to the screenwriter Jeff Nathanson and director Steven Spielberg for cutting out all the boring day to day stuff and sticking to the exciting stuff. I'm hoping this review does not come across as biased, but I'll be up front in saying that I am a Steven Spielberg fan.

This movie is first and foremost about characters. I know, I know, there are characters in every movie, but not every movie is about characters. Sometimes they just facilitate the story or the action taking place. This movie was about people. Yes some of the circumstances were outrageous and hard to believe, but I always knew the motivations behind their choices. And it didn't have to be spelled to me either. I saw it in a lingering camera shot or facial expression. DiCaprio's entire motivation for his actions is because he is trying to run away from the problem that his parent's divorce will create for him.

When you have good actors, it makes watching the movie that much better. It seems like a dream cast now to see Hanks, DiCaprio, Christopher Walken, Amy Adams, and Jennifer Garner (no matter how brief her role is here) together for one movie. I think DiCaprio was slightly miscast, but only because he of his boyish looks. Based on the above picture the real Frank looked much older than he was, which probably made it easier to pass off as a doctor, lawyer, and pilot, but DiCaprio more than makes up for it with his acting. I know some of the credit goes to the screenwriter, but simple reactions to the new situations effectively convey the age of the character. The take-off of his first flight comes to mind, as does his first date.

The relationship between the two Franks (DiCaprio and Walken) is possibly the strongest thing this movie has going for it, and where I think the realy heart of the movie is. Walken deserved to be nominated for an Oscar for this subtle performance. I love the scene where father and son meet up at a fancy restaurant and Frank Jr. only wants to impress his father. Frank Sr. sees through the facade that his son has put up, but is still moved by the gesture. They come across as like father, like son in their behaviors. I saw in one of the special features on the DVD that this scene was fabricated and that once Frank Jr. ran away from home he never saw his father again. I know that Hollywood has a strong tendency to stretch the truth when it comes to "based on a true story", but the scene still worked well and resonated with me.

This movie made my top ten list of 2002, and overall I'd give this movie 4½ stars out of five.