...a topflight psychological thriller.
And that's where the problem comes in. Edens does have compassion in his heart. After working for years without a break on the case, he comes around to understanding U-North is wrong. Plain wrong. Which is where all the problems enter into the story. Edens has information, and U-North (and Crowder) find out about it. Clayton is called in...and it spirals out of control.
"Michael Clayton" is a bleak movie, covered in gray, never black or white. It's never upbeat or downbeat; director/writer Tony Gilroy maintains an even tone throughout despite the emotions the material elicits. We know the company is at fault, as do the characters, but at the same time everyone involved knows there is a job to do. A job on which an entire law firm hinges. These lawyers are required to believe in their client; all they have to do is defend them. Lie, if you will.
Even down to the verbal finale between Clayton and Crowder (a scene that shows Clooney at perhaps his best in the entire film), the lies never stop coming. So we're left to wonder who to believe? Do we believe the events we've seen, with no suggestion anything unseemly is happening we don't know about? Or do we believe the finale, telling us how the entire movie went down without so much as montage back up? Ultimately, I don't think it matters much. We have hints of both sides, that Crowder was intimately involved with the entire deal (notice her short scenes in the bathroom) and Clayton was a liar (the context of the conversation). All we do know is what we see at the end of the film. Enough said.
I said earlier that "Michael Clayton" is a rare movie nowadays, and it's true. Nothing about the production--aside from the cast--is flashy. (Clooney, Wilkinson, and Swinton are joined by Sydney Pollack as Clayton's boss.) There is one explosion--seen twice--and no shoot-outs or chase scenes. And no sex. Just the story told by competent people. In its bid to paint the Clayton character as half slime ball/half angel, the script reminds the audience time and again that people aren't who we think they are.
We want ease because simple, sugary films have been fed to us for years, not requiring us to think or deduce but to simply watch. All will be explained in a nice three-minute sequence where the pieces come together like an episode of "Murder, She Wrote." Colonel Mustard with the pipe in the billiard room. "Michael Clayton" isn't that kind of movie. It is a who-done-it in some aspects. We know who done it and, really, why. Or so we think. It's that ending that sticks in the craw. With it, we can't be totally sure of anything, another reason "Michael Clayton" excels. We're supposed to draw our own conclusions and think about the film long after it's been "explained."
I keep coming back to the finale, without giving too much away. There's a wealth of information given to the audience, one part of which we should see coming from a million miles away. Somehow, we don't. The exchange between Clooney and Swinton is so engaging, so engrossing, we are intently focused on their characters, absorbing the performances and words, not bothering to connect the dots while we're in the theater. It's after the strong and silent Clooney performance...the unhinged yet sane Wilkinson turn...the unflattering but resolved Swinton...that we try to make sense of it all. In a way, we're like the characters in the film: running to catch up with a speeding train, hoping to understand what is going on.
"Michael Clayton" is a slow film, so much so it nearly lulls you into a state of "been there, done that." We've see this movie play out as "Erin Brokovich" or even "A Civil Action." Yet the images on screen are still mesmerizing. Because of the ambiguous ending, I can't wholeheartedly recommend the film, but I can come close. It's an unassuming, unpretentious movie, filled with performances that some will label Oscar worthy and a story that demands repeat viewing just to keep the pieces straight.
Jason's film rating: 7/10.
Video:
As this is an HD DVD and DVD Combo edition, we get a VC-1, 1080-resolution, high-definition transfer of the movie on one side of the disc and a 480-resolution, standard-definition transfer on the other. In SD, the Warner Bros. engineers provide a good reproduction of the movie's picture. They use a high bit rate and an anamorphic transfer replicating the film's original 2.40:1 aspect ratio. The results are as much definition as I remember from a movie theater, with deep black levels setting off the object delineation nicely and highly realistic colors, though intentionally subdued and at times almost leaden. This is, after all, a fairly dark movie. One also notices a few, minor, almost indiscernible moiré effects, hardly anything, and a fine print grain that permeates the picture, especially noticeable during the opening poker game and at times thereafter.
In high def, the transfer may not wow a viewer the way a "Beowulf" does, but it is stunning in its own way. In HD the picture looks much sharper and clearer than in SD, the image well delineated most of the time, with only a touch of softness on occasion. There are excellent black levels, realistic flesh tones, outstanding contrasts, and fine detailing in darker areas. Heck, even the grain I noticed in the SD version seems less noticeable in HD.
Audio:
On the HD side, we get a Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtrack, and on the SD side a regular Dolby Digital 5.1 track. James Newton Howard provides a first-class musical background, which both of the Dolby Digital tracks convey well, punctuated subtly by all of the surrounds. However, in the final analysis this is a relatively quiet film, the silences as telling as the dialogue, so it's important that the dynamic range be wide and the noise level low. They are, especially in DD+. What's more, the midrange is exceedingly smooth, the bass is authoritative when necessary, and the highs sparkle.
Extras:
There are only two major bonus items on the disc, repeated in standard definition on both sides of the disc, and they are worthwhile. The first is an audio commentary by writer/director Tony Gilroy and his brother, film editor John Gilroy. They make a natural team and provide a good deal of inside information, as we might expect. The other bonus is about five minutes of additional scenes, three of them, in non-anamorphic widescreen, with optional commentary.
In addition, there are twenty-seven scene selections but no chapter insert; trailers for other WB products at start-up only on the SD side; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages; English, French, and Spanish subtitles, with English captions for the hearing impaired; and English subtitles for the commentary. The HD side also includes pop-up menus, bookmarks, a zoom-and-pan feature, and a guideline to elapsed time.
Parting Thoughts:
"Michael Clayton" easily took second place on my list of favorite films of 2007, and it was my favorite among the Oscar nominees. Each new viewing brings something fresh and insightful with it, not the least being the astute and discerning performances by Clooney, Wilkinson, and Swinton. Maybe it's not a masterpiece, but it's a topflight psychological thriller, and in high def its appearance is topflight, too.
"Michael Clayton" is a bleak movie, covered in gray, never black or white. It's never upbeat or downbeat; director/writer Tony Gilroy maintains an even tone throughout despite the emotions the material elicits. We know the company is at fault, as do the characters, but at the same time everyone involved knows there is a job to do. A job on which an entire law firm hinges. These lawyers are required to believe in their client; all they have to do is defend them. Lie, if you will.
Even down to the verbal finale between Clayton and Crowder (a scene that shows Clooney at perhaps his best in the entire film), the lies never stop coming. So we're left to wonder who to believe? Do we believe the events we've seen, with no suggestion anything unseemly is happening we don't know about? Or do we believe the finale, telling us how the entire movie went down without so much as montage back up? Ultimately, I don't think it matters much. We have hints of both sides, that Crowder was intimately involved with the entire deal (notice her short scenes in the bathroom) and Clayton was a liar (the context of the conversation). All we do know is what we see at the end of the film. Enough said.
I said earlier that "Michael Clayton" is a rare movie nowadays, and it's true. Nothing about the production--aside from the cast--is flashy. (Clooney, Wilkinson, and Swinton are joined by Sydney Pollack as Clayton's boss.) There is one explosion--seen twice--and no shoot-outs or chase scenes. And no sex. Just the story told by competent people. In its bid to paint the Clayton character as half slime ball/half angel, the script reminds the audience time and again that people aren't who we think they are.
We want ease because simple, sugary films have been fed to us for years, not requiring us to think or deduce but to simply watch. All will be explained in a nice three-minute sequence where the pieces come together like an episode of "Murder, She Wrote." Colonel Mustard with the pipe in the billiard room. "Michael Clayton" isn't that kind of movie. It is a who-done-it in some aspects. We know who done it and, really, why. Or so we think. It's that ending that sticks in the craw. With it, we can't be totally sure of anything, another reason "Michael Clayton" excels. We're supposed to draw our own conclusions and think about the film long after it's been "explained."
I keep coming back to the finale, without giving too much away. There's a wealth of information given to the audience, one part of which we should see coming from a million miles away. Somehow, we don't. The exchange between Clooney and Swinton is so engaging, so engrossing, we are intently focused on their characters, absorbing the performances and words, not bothering to connect the dots while we're in the theater. It's after the strong and silent Clooney performance...the unhinged yet sane Wilkinson turn...the unflattering but resolved Swinton...that we try to make sense of it all. In a way, we're like the characters in the film: running to catch up with a speeding train, hoping to understand what is going on.
"Michael Clayton" is a slow film, so much so it nearly lulls you into a state of "been there, done that." We've see this movie play out as "Erin Brokovich" or even "A Civil Action." Yet the images on screen are still mesmerizing. Because of the ambiguous ending, I can't wholeheartedly recommend the film, but I can come close. It's an unassuming, unpretentious movie, filled with performances that some will label Oscar worthy and a story that demands repeat viewing just to keep the pieces straight.
Jason's film rating: 7/10.
Video:
As this is an HD DVD and DVD Combo edition, we get a VC-1, 1080-resolution, high-definition transfer of the movie on one side of the disc and a 480-resolution, standard-definition transfer on the other. In SD, the Warner Bros. engineers provide a good reproduction of the movie's picture. They use a high bit rate and an anamorphic transfer replicating the film's original 2.40:1 aspect ratio. The results are as much definition as I remember from a movie theater, with deep black levels setting off the object delineation nicely and highly realistic colors, though intentionally subdued and at times almost leaden. This is, after all, a fairly dark movie. One also notices a few, minor, almost indiscernible moiré effects, hardly anything, and a fine print grain that permeates the picture, especially noticeable during the opening poker game and at times thereafter.
In high def, the transfer may not wow a viewer the way a "Beowulf" does, but it is stunning in its own way. In HD the picture looks much sharper and clearer than in SD, the image well delineated most of the time, with only a touch of softness on occasion. There are excellent black levels, realistic flesh tones, outstanding contrasts, and fine detailing in darker areas. Heck, even the grain I noticed in the SD version seems less noticeable in HD.
Audio:
On the HD side, we get a Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 soundtrack, and on the SD side a regular Dolby Digital 5.1 track. James Newton Howard provides a first-class musical background, which both of the Dolby Digital tracks convey well, punctuated subtly by all of the surrounds. However, in the final analysis this is a relatively quiet film, the silences as telling as the dialogue, so it's important that the dynamic range be wide and the noise level low. They are, especially in DD+. What's more, the midrange is exceedingly smooth, the bass is authoritative when necessary, and the highs sparkle.
Extras:
There are only two major bonus items on the disc, repeated in standard definition on both sides of the disc, and they are worthwhile. The first is an audio commentary by writer/director Tony Gilroy and his brother, film editor John Gilroy. They make a natural team and provide a good deal of inside information, as we might expect. The other bonus is about five minutes of additional scenes, three of them, in non-anamorphic widescreen, with optional commentary.
In addition, there are twenty-seven scene selections but no chapter insert; trailers for other WB products at start-up only on the SD side; English, French, and Spanish spoken languages; English, French, and Spanish subtitles, with English captions for the hearing impaired; and English subtitles for the commentary. The HD side also includes pop-up menus, bookmarks, a zoom-and-pan feature, and a guideline to elapsed time.
Parting Thoughts:
"Michael Clayton" easily took second place on my list of favorite films of 2007, and it was my favorite among the Oscar nominees. Each new viewing brings something fresh and insightful with it, not the least being the astute and discerning performances by Clooney, Wilkinson, and Swinton. Maybe it's not a masterpiece, but it's a topflight psychological thriller, and in high def its appearance is topflight, too.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]22851[/release]