Michael Clayton: Review By slysnide

Jul 10th, 2008 by slysnide
"DOES IT LOOK, LIKE I'M NEGOTIATING??!!"
  • OVERALL
    1.0
    HORRIBLE
  • Story
  • Acting
  • Directing
  • Visuals
Okay, I can accept that this film had semi-good acting, story, visuals, and directing skills for those who actually liked this, and for those who like movies of this type, but COME ON!!!!

{my dad netflixed this by the way}

George Clooney (Ocean's Trilogy) plays the title role as an attorney whose worst nightmare comes true when his client has a moral awakening that threatens the future of his account with Michael, and for his business. Michael meanwhile must work quickly to get things right and figure out how to prove the conspiracy about the things that his client has confessed which could be utterly disastrous if not addressed soon.

(I know, it sounds good right?)

Tom Wilkinson (Batman Begins) plays the client that threatens his account and his own business when he has a moral awakening that involves him getting arrested for running naked in the streets. The acting was okay, but wasn't spectacular. He goes missing for a while, and neglects to take his pills, which Michael blames for his outbursts, though later admits to himself that there is a conspiracy at work.

Tilda Swinton plays another attorney, but for a corporation or something or other (haven't seen it since early March). Michael suspects that she has involvement in the conspiracy since she's trying to get Michael to find alternate ways to solve the crisis at hand. She only gets in 2 spats with Michael in the film, none of which were that great, and yet she got an academy award nomination, AND WIN for the role!!! WTF? There were plenty of other better people up for that!

So while I completely understand the plot, I don't find this movie fascinating, and the only thing I liked about it was that it wasn't a long conversational borefest, and by jumping around, I for some reason kept watching it. Though there was just nothing enjoyable about this movie for me. And yet I kept watching it. Probably cuz I wanted to know the end result, but not enough had I been watching this in the day, instead of late at night when I lost interest to do anything else that required much thinking. Then again, I was in that sorta mood where I kinda kept looking at the clock on my player beside the TV in anticipation for the film to end so I could go to bed.

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Comments (9)

  1. slysnide

    On yet another completely unrelated note: The recently added photos of Two-Face & Joker in the hospital that were posted on a Tuesday story that have since been removed are still available to be seen at www.ramasscreen.com. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the "Next Page" link. Wait for it to load, then scroll down till you see the "New Two-Face Photos" story, (or something similar to that) to see the 5 new photos. I've got them saved on a MicWord Doc*ment, and I intend to post them on my profile next Friday when the film is released here.

    4 years agoby @slysnideFlag

  2. Vamp

    No, I don't let bad reviews discourage me from seeing a movie if I wanted to see it in the first place. I like to form my own opinions of movies.

    4 years agoby @vampire2000Flag

  3. slysnide

    So have I discouraged you from wanting to see this movie? Seeing as you mention both that you want to see it, and that you liked the review, despite that I only gave it 1 star.

    4 years agoby @slysnideFlag

  4. Vamp

    I've wanted to see this for a long time. Good review!

    4 years agoby @vampire2000Flag

  5. slysnide

    Considering that Tom Wilkinson usually plays serious roles, then I can see how his acting was good. But George just reminded me of a really tense Danny Ocean, which we've also seen before...3 times as a matter of fact with the Ocean's Trilogy (2001/2004/2007).

    And Tilda didn't have too many scenes anyway, and just played one of those ultra-paranoid, impatient, and ill tempered attorneys that you just really don't like. And yes, I realize that I can't hold that against her in regards to her acting, but it's not like the performance was anything new. For her perhaps. But I've never seen nor heard of her before. Plus, we've seen those roles at least a thousand times before in movies over the decades. Especially everyday on shows like all of the "Law & Order" versions. And despite her character traits, she didn't seem to get too angry in tone & volume when she had her spats with George. But he was just as stern as he always is, so it was okay, but for HER character, it just seemed a bit off. Know what I'm saying?

    I like Court Dramas, or other Judicial related Dramas SIMILAR to this, but not this one. It just wasn't doing it for me.

    4 years agoby @slysnideFlag

  6. The Boondock Saint

    i too did not enjoy this to much, but i thought the acting was terrific

    4 years agoby @combatmadness360Flag

  7. slysnide

    Yeah, I can see that. Hence why I gave it semi-decent ratings for directing & acting. But you're right. I don't really enjoy movies like this that much, which is why I acknowledged in the first sentence of the review that this movie may be good for those who would enjoy stuff like this, but that ain't me. I can see how you liked it though. It did keep me semi-guessing, but not enough or with enough intrigue to have me anticipating the ending.

    4 years agoby @slysnideFlag

  8. Phatlightning

    It takes a certain kind of person to enjoy a movie of this caliber, and that person is me. This movie was one that had your mind racing to keep up while at the same time making you stop and think.

    Clooney performed masterfully as usual, and Wilkinson played a batty old fool like none other. I can see where people may think this movie is very boring, but although you think you understood the plot, you may not have. This movie was a thinker that continued to move. I enjoyed this movie a lot.

    4 years agoby @sxers2k1Flag

  9. The Dark Knight

    You didn't like it it was good to me

    4 years agoby @thedarkknight23Flag