The Frame » George Clooney

Michael Clayton

Jandy — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:28:06 +0000

I rated this Well Above Average upon watching it, so I’ll let it stand, but I’m tempted to knock it down to Above Average. I wanted to be blown away by this – the lone mainstream film in last year’s Oscar race? A thinking person’s corporate thriller? Sounds like one to get excited about. And it was good, don’t get me wrong. There’s a lot to like about it, starting with the trio of main actors, all of whom are outstanding. George Clooney is the eponymous corporate fixer, the guy who gets called in to keep scandal and litigation away from his clients. This time, Tom Wilkinson has gone off the deep end, raving about all the bad things the company he works for does. That’s all tied up with Tilda Swinton and some reports she’s concealing about the unethical things the corporation has done in the name of research. There’s a lot of moral underpinning, too, as Clayton must decide whether to do the right thing and uncover the corruption or take the payoff he desperately needs to support his family. It’s a good story, but unnecessarily convoluted by the introduction of Clayton’s brother’s subplot (which is needed for background, but not in the detail we get). It’s also definitely an actor’s film, which is fine – but I would’ve liked a bit more crackle from Gilroy as writer/director.
Well Above Average

Leatherheads

Jandy — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:52:46 +0000

Ah, back when pro football was in its infancy, playing with hand-me-down balls and uniforms and players culled from the mines and farms, to which they could easily have to go back when they ran out of money to rent the field for the next game. Clooney plays one of these footballers, trying to create a stable sport out of the only thing he knows how to do. So he convinces college football star and WWI hero Jon Krasinski to go pro and bring some much-needed publicity to his team. Meanwhile, Zellweger is a hotshot reporter trying to uncover the dirt on Krasinski, whose war heroism may be, shall we say, exaggerated. Conflicts break out over her (and can I just say, being fought over by John Krasinski and George Clooney? I have never wanted to be Renee Zellweger more IN MY LIFE) as well as over the way to play football. The film is a very enjoyable throwback to the 1920s-1930s, doesn’t try to be more than it is, and aside from wishing that Zellweger’s strength as a female character hadn’t been eroded in the end, I liked it quite a lot.
Above Average

Three Kings

Jandy — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 03:07:55 +0000

George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg lead a quartet of Desert Storm soldiers who go after a cache of Kuwaiti gold once peace is declared. Not unexpectedly, everything goes wrong as their quest sparks violence between Iraqi Republic Guard and the underground resistance to Saddam Hussein’s reign. The film starts off farcical in tone, gradually moving into drama and nearly tragedy by the end, but it doesn’t feel uneven. It’s a natural and well-paced progression, raising the film above the average actioner.
Above Average

The Good German

Jandy — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:30:28 +0000

AKA Steven Soderbergh’s incredibly obvious homage to 1940s cinema in general and Casablanca in particular. George Clooney investigates the death of a journalist (Tobey Maguire) in post-WWII Berlin and finds it’s tied up with a former flame of his (Cate Blanchett) and her husband, a scientist trying to get out of the country. Shot in B&W on 1940s equipment, it’s an interesting and well-meaning experiment, but not a wholly successful one. It’s never as compelling as you want it to be, but I liked the idea enough to stick with it.
Average

Ocean’s Thirteen

Jandy — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 18:18:12 +0000

Danny Ocean and Company (George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, etc.) are back, this time teaming with nemesis Andy Garcia to take out the new casino on the strip, whose owner (Al Pacino) ripped off Reuben, a senior member of the Ocean posse. All the elements are here, from ventilation system infiltration to super-suave high roller impersonation. Neither Julia Roberts nor Catherine Zeta-Jones are in attendance, but the film may be better off for their absence; the boys can keep their focus on the heist, which is more interesting than their romantic entanglements ever were. In any case, Thirteen doesn’t quite live up to the bar that Eleven set, but it’s loads better than the bloated Twelve.
Above Average