***Little note. This is a section called On the Cutting Room Floor. Many of you are aware of the term, it refers to filmmaking where a scene is cut out. This section will be use to spotlight things that I think might have been lost in the shuffle and overlooked. And hopefully, in doing so, help these pieces find an audience.***
So if you took a look at the Oscar best picture nominations, you might have noticed a little picture called Michael Clayton surprisingly staking a little claim. That said, it left most people going "oh yeah, wasn't it that film with George Clooney?" Well it was. And it was also a great gem of a film that most people overlooked back in the fall.
Tony Gillory (who scrpited the equally awesome Bourne series) also scripts this and steps into the director's chair for the first time to hit it out of the park. Not only is there a visual treat (provided by cinematographer Robert Elswitt who pulled double duty this year with PT Anderson's tremendous epic There Will Be Blood) but also excellent performances from all three main players. George Clooney is the titular "fixer" that carries this film, Tom Wilkinson the cheif lawyer Aurther Edens whose mental breakdown Clooney is asked to cover up, and Tilda Swinton corporate lawyer who desperately wants this all to go away. All three are given plenty to work with in the tightly paced script and all or them shine in their roles.
Michael Clayton is reminisent of a good seventies thriller. It feels in tone with All the Presidents Men and other ilk. I've heard it described as the best John Grisham film he never wrote. I'd have to say they are dead correct. The tension is so tight in this film, you feel as if it could snap at any moment. George Clooney is in peril, and I never doubted for a second. Above all, Clayton is smart, which is sad to say, but that is refreshing. Unfortunately intelligent films are few and far between. Michael Clayton is an adult film made for adult audience and as such, it doesn't pander to its audience. It gives you credit as a thinking participant and even plays on your expection. At the end of the day, Michael Clayton is a rewarding film that has you leaving the theatre knowing you've seem something great. While Michael Clayton may not win any of the Oscars it is nominated for, it has already done its job. Thanks to the nods Michael Clayton is being re-released in the theatres. Oscar has given the greatest gift of all, a breath of freash life, and a second chance to find its viewers. Search it out in the cineplexes near you. You'll be glad you did.
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