This week’s movie is Michael Clayton (2007).
The drama is about Michael
Clayton, a prominent New York law firm’s fixer. Clayton finds himself immersed
in a dangerous conspiracy when his friend and lead console on the firm’s biggest
case has a sudden nervous breakdown. The film is written and directed by Tony Gilroy (his directorial
debut), who is best known for writing the screenplays for all four films in the
Jason Bourne series (he is
also directing The Bourne Legacy).
Gilroy worked with fantastic people on the film including composer James Newton Howard,
cinematographer Robert
Elswit and production designer Kevin
Thompson. George Clooney
stars, giving one of the best performances of his career, solidifying him as a
great dramatic leading man. The supporting cast is phenomenal with brilliant
work from Tilda Swinton and
especially Tom Wilkinson (who
gives one of the great supporting performances of the decade). Denis O’Hare, Michael O’Keefe and Sydney Pollack are good in small
roles. Gilroy’s directing allows the actors to really dive deeply into their
characters, much to the benefit of the film, which plays as a great character
piece with tones of mystery and crime drama in addition to its main genre of thriller/drama.
It was nominated for seven Oscars (winning one for Swinton) including Best
Picture. I would not quite call it a modern classic, but it is among the ten
best of 2007 with The
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Atonement,
The
Darjeeling Limited, Harry
Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Juno, Knocked
Up, No Country for Old Men,
Sunshine,
and There Will Be Blood (one
of the stronger years of the 2000s). It is worth checking out for fans of
Clooney and political-style thrillers/dramas. Check out the trailer.
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