Of all the films nominated in the Best Picture category for the Academy Awards this year, I would possibly rank Michael Clayton as the slightest. Not the least — that would go to Atonement (previously discussed here). Clayton doesn’t do anything wrong, but it’s little more than a very well-done legal thriller, akin to a slightly more intellectual version of a John Grisham plot.
The movie just came out on DVD this week, and I’m going to go ahead and discuss plot details. I’m not intentionally doing this, as I discuss these nominated films, but each of the five nominees is very story-driven. Yes, each has interesting characters, but also strong plots.
Michael Clayton has a slightly scrambled story structure, in that it begins towards the end and then jumps back to show us how we got there. Initially, it appears to be primarily a dramatic conflict, although we see that it’s going to lead to a car explosion. Clayton (played by George Clooney) is a bit of a bag man, an attorney who is stalled in his firm, relegated to cleaning up others’ messes. He has lost money in a failed venture with his loser brother and has a bit of a gambling problem. His friend Arthur (Tom Wilkinson) has gone off his meds, but also seems to have had an attack of conscience in regards to his corporate client. Arthur and Clayton engage in a battle of wits. It’s unclear if Arthur’s crazy or crazy like a fox.
Then, there’s a shocking assassination, portrayed as bleak horror, that lifts the proceedings from drama to melodrama. You leave the world of reality and enter a universe of corporate murder and shadowy conspiracy. So, it’s all well acted, including Tilda Swinton, and it’s well written and directed by Tony Gilroy (who also wrote the Bourne trilogy). But the whole thing ain’t no The Verdict (1982). It’s kind of like this “good service” theory that Dan Dorman offered, that these days we’re often impressed by films that are merely competent or somewhat intelligent or made with some visible craft. The awful junk that represents so much of contemporary popular film makes us overreact to anything that’s a cut above.
I suppose, although films like Michael Clayton seemed to be made quite a lot in the Seventies (such as Klute (1971) or Three Days of the Condor (1975)) and it’s too bad that such films are much rarer now.
Tags: Michael Clayton, George Clooney
One Response
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Dan Dorman Says:
I just did my Oscar post. Eech.