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.

The Hurricane (1999)

Denzel Washington as Rubin "Hurricane" Carter


At the end of 1999, "The Hurricane" was released starring Denzel Washington. It was a modest hit, but maybe you have never seen it. It is rated R for language and violence.

Dan-
I have been wanting to see this movie for a really long time, but have never taken the opportunity to see it. It finally made its way up the Netflix queue (after more than 2 years I think) and I finally got the chance to see it. As cliche as it sounds, this is one of Denzel's best performances. He was nominated for an Oscar for it, but lost to Kevin Spacey in "American Beauty" (how he won against Denzel AND Russell Crowe for The Insider is beyond me). I also think this was a better performance than his role in "Training Day", for which he actually did win the Oscar.

Back to the movie. This is "based on the true story" of boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter who, at the peak of his career, was framed for a murder he did not commit and imprisoned for more than 20 years. I use the true story term loosely because this is Hollywood, and naturally there will be some artistic license taken to create drama, conflict, and/or motivations. The movie implies that a single racist cop is the one responsible for all his troubles, which may have some truth to it, but there is likely a lot more to the story. While in prison, Carter writes a book about his life and wrongful conviction. There is also a black teenager named Lesra who is taken from a poor neighborhood in New Jersey to live with 3 white people in Toronto to be educated and given an opportunity he may not have otherwise had. Lesra reads Hurricane's book, shares it with his 3 educators, and they all take the cause to free the Hurricane from prison.

There were two things that sucked me in emotionally to the movie: 1- After Hurricane is sent to prison and refuses to wear the prison uniform he is sent to solitary confinement. There he has an argument with two versions of his personality, one that is weak and one that is strong. This became the point where Denzel's performance really started to shine. Prior to that the character is cocky and arrogant, and this begins to show the vulnerability of Hurricane. And 2- When he asks his wife to stop visiting him and walk away. "I'm dead. Just bury me." It's the emotion in his voice that resonates the most with me.

This is a strong legal drama of a movie. The bad point about real life and the good point of movies is that these appeals and court proceedings literally take years, but can be shown in much quicker so we as the audience continue to feel a sense of urgency. Even after Lesra meets Rubin Carter, the process takes years to get the final appeal heard in court. The movie tries emphasize that fact as there is one point where the attorneys that have been assigned to the case since the beginning of his appeals comment to Lesra's educators that many people have offered to help over the years, but due to the slow process and apparent lack of progress they felt they were making, abandoned the cause.

While I thought this movie was compelling and well-made, I think I loved Denzel's performance the most about this movie. There is a great line that Carter writes to Lesra: "Do not write me. Do not visit me. Find it in your hearts to not weaken me with your love." I'm fascinated by a man who wants to be so strong, but knows he will not appear as such if he gets close to anyone. He gains hope and loses it every time he goes to court.

I give this movie 4½ out of 5 stars.

Mark-
Sadly this movie seems as though it has been overlooked by many people. I don’t know what it is about movies about boxing or boxers, but they continually seem to be some of the best movies produced. My own wife is among those who hate boxing, yet she has admitted on numerous occasions how good movies such as Million Dollar Baby, and Cinderella Man were. I have to add The Fighter and The Hurricane to that list as great movies that have come out in the last 15 years focused in some way around boxing or boxers. This film portrays the personal and judicial struggles that Rubin "Hurricane" Carter endured, as well as a friendship developed between Carter and a young man named Lesra. Rubin Carter overcame many hardships and difficulties in his life to become a boxing champion, before being what eventually was determined a wrongful imprisonment for three murders. The theme of racial injustice is prevalent throughout this film as is the case in many of Denzel Washington’s movies, but these are also his greatest films and roles. When I think about the roles Denzel has played I think of the movies: Cry Freedom, Glory, Malcolm X, The Hurricane, and Training Day (only because he finally won his best actor Oscar for this movie). All of the above films and roles deal directly with racial differences, and you could of course add Remember The Titans and The Great Debaters to the list. Denzel Washington has been among my favorite actors for a long time, and this is in my opinion his best acting performance. Denzel became Rubin Carter for this film! The most obvious observation of this fact is the physical shape that Washington got into for this role. Although he has never been unfit in anyway, it is clear to see that he devoted himself to learning the skill of boxing, and getting for lack of a better word "ripped" for this role. Just as, if not more, impressive is the amount of emotional and psychological toil that Washington allowed himself to be subjected to. There are so many details of this movie that I could give, but I’m the type of person that would rather see the events for myself, rather than have someone tell me all about it. This is truly a great movie and was in my opinion much much much better than American Beauty which unfortunately won best picture the same year. ***** out of 5
My Random Thought For This Movie: Liev Schrieiber appears in this movie, and my random thought is that I’m beginning to wonder if he ever really ages. He has bulked up a little more than his earlier years, but with that exception I would claim that he still looks virtually the same.