Michael Clayton
Spoiler Alert--don't read if you want to see Michael Clayton and haven't yet.
I must say that through the entire movie, I was disappointed. The critics had built it up in my mind and throughout the movie it just didn't live up to the hype. However, I stayed with it. The beginning was near the end--I kept waiting for something awful to happen. There was all this spooky music, but nothing happened for the longest time. Then inexplicably a car blew up--really out of the blue. Then we went back to four days earlier. The movie was about lawyers and a big corporation. I didn't think the end was believable, but the real end was very intriguing. (I haven't seen "Rumor Has It" yet about what supposedly happened after "The Graduate", but this movie made me really think about that.) Michael Clayton is sitting in a taxi and the last three or four minutes of the film are just his face absorbing what has just happened--where does he go from here--nothing's changed, but everything has changed. Now what?
Days later I'm still struck by how no one in this movie was a bad guy (even the killers) and no one was a good guy (even the hero). They were all just people doing their best--doing what they thought they had to do. There was one larger than life hero in a small child and that was an interesting dynamic. An eight year old who was pushed to the side of the story and then brought into focus to fulfill little side plots. It's kind of like the adults know their flaws and are putting all their hopes into the child.
The lawyers were so true to life (except the end). The bored associates handling the depositions, the senior partners running around trying to placate the clients, mountains and mountains of paperwork. Michael Clayton was the "fixer" and when an irate client said that he was supposed to be a miricle worker for the amount of money the client was paying, Michael Clayton said that he was a janitor cleaning up messes (and his advice, I thought was really creative and right on the mark). I get so mad when my clients expect me to perform miracles--I want to tell them, I'm not magic--all I can do is argue the facts as best I can. There's a scene of Michael Clayton's day--a montage of overlapping telephone calls, files, problem solving, juggling six matters at once (not to mention the main plot of the movie problem). It was so true to life--that's my day sometimes.
The idea that the lawyer was a janitor stayed with me too. I cannot clean my stove--I mean it. No matter what I do, I cannot get the crusted stuff around the burner off. I've soaked it, doused it with 409, simple green, everything I can think of. It will not come clean. Berna (my cleaning lady) makes it look brand new everytime. She knows what she is doing and she makes sure she has the right tools. That's what a lawyer does. We have the knowledge and the tools. It just seems like a miracle that the stove is so clean after Berna has been there.
So I have to give this movie a thumbs up--it has really stayed with me and while writing this blog I realized that the ending that I thought was not believable fits if it is regular human beings doing the best they know how. I think that was the whole point of the movie.
I must say that through the entire movie, I was disappointed. The critics had built it up in my mind and throughout the movie it just didn't live up to the hype. However, I stayed with it. The beginning was near the end--I kept waiting for something awful to happen. There was all this spooky music, but nothing happened for the longest time. Then inexplicably a car blew up--really out of the blue. Then we went back to four days earlier. The movie was about lawyers and a big corporation. I didn't think the end was believable, but the real end was very intriguing. (I haven't seen "Rumor Has It" yet about what supposedly happened after "The Graduate", but this movie made me really think about that.) Michael Clayton is sitting in a taxi and the last three or four minutes of the film are just his face absorbing what has just happened--where does he go from here--nothing's changed, but everything has changed. Now what?
Days later I'm still struck by how no one in this movie was a bad guy (even the killers) and no one was a good guy (even the hero). They were all just people doing their best--doing what they thought they had to do. There was one larger than life hero in a small child and that was an interesting dynamic. An eight year old who was pushed to the side of the story and then brought into focus to fulfill little side plots. It's kind of like the adults know their flaws and are putting all their hopes into the child.
The lawyers were so true to life (except the end). The bored associates handling the depositions, the senior partners running around trying to placate the clients, mountains and mountains of paperwork. Michael Clayton was the "fixer" and when an irate client said that he was supposed to be a miricle worker for the amount of money the client was paying, Michael Clayton said that he was a janitor cleaning up messes (and his advice, I thought was really creative and right on the mark). I get so mad when my clients expect me to perform miracles--I want to tell them, I'm not magic--all I can do is argue the facts as best I can. There's a scene of Michael Clayton's day--a montage of overlapping telephone calls, files, problem solving, juggling six matters at once (not to mention the main plot of the movie problem). It was so true to life--that's my day sometimes.
The idea that the lawyer was a janitor stayed with me too. I cannot clean my stove--I mean it. No matter what I do, I cannot get the crusted stuff around the burner off. I've soaked it, doused it with 409, simple green, everything I can think of. It will not come clean. Berna (my cleaning lady) makes it look brand new everytime. She knows what she is doing and she makes sure she has the right tools. That's what a lawyer does. We have the knowledge and the tools. It just seems like a miracle that the stove is so clean after Berna has been there.
So I have to give this movie a thumbs up--it has really stayed with me and while writing this blog I realized that the ending that I thought was not believable fits if it is regular human beings doing the best they know how. I think that was the whole point of the movie.
posted by KathrynVH @ 9:10 AM
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