A person's life is decorated with "chicken thieves", which means that this person is scheming, diligent in calculating, and is a person who has both sides but lacks a clear position, and his own interests are above everything else. Such people may be clever and playful, but they are definitely not cute, let alone trustworthy. There is no shortage of such characters in reality, but to become the protagonist of a movie, the audience's sense of identity will definitely be compromised, especially since the beginning of this character. In the end there is no change, always the same. And this is exactly the case with Michael Clayton, the protagonist in the movie Michael Clayton.
This Mr. Michael Crichton appeared as a lawyer who couldn't appear in court. He was good at "wiping his butt" for big companies or certain individuals in the law, and had a little hobby of gambling (this hobby arrangement is completely absent in the play. See it works), run a restaurant poorly and owe a whole bunch of debt to the underworld. This is Mr. Clayton's first impression of us: acting like a jerk but it seems that the reality is not very good.
This is not a bad start. In the movie "Never Compromise" with a similar theme, the middle-aged woman played by Julia Roberts also had a bad start. Divorced to raise children but without a job, she also suffered a car accident , there is nothing worse in life than this, Roberts played Erin Brockovich is a complete loser (Loser).
However, as the film progresses, the play requires that the protagonist of the film must not continue the appearance that he began to show. In reality, of course, there are many consistent characters, but it is inappropriate to be the protagonist in the film play, because it will be monotonous and boring. . To let the characters show the essence or depth different from the appearance, not only by language, but also by action, especially the dilemma in the face of great pressure.
The biggest dilemma faced by Mr. Michael Crichton is that on the one hand, his partner is killed and he has the evidence, and the other is the identity of the firm's partner and the settlement of the debt of $80,000. Mr. Clayton's choice seems quite realistic and reasonable, the latter's temptation is obviously greater, and it is more in line with his chicken thief nature. This is a continuation of the beginning of the film, Clayton has solved his life dilemma and still lives his life as a thief. Later, Mr. Clayton also chose to fight back, but it was after he was almost assassinated. The decision to fight back was not under pressure at all, and there was no dilemma: either willing to be destroyed, or revealing the truth to survive . Therefore, Mr. Clayton's life was ultimately a monolithic piece of chicken thief, and he refused to change in the slightest. The creation of this character cannot but be said to be a failure.
Also in the movie "Never Compromise", Erin Brockovich accidentally discovered a major pollution incident in the community, on the one hand, her livelihood job required her not to expose the incident, and on the other hand, the tragic life of pollution victims, in this pressure Under the circumstances, Erin Brockovich finally chose to side with the latter. Her choices let her get rid of the appearance of a loser, and her essence, such as her kindness and perseverance, began to shine. The audience is also moved by it. This character not only enriches the play, but also does things that ordinary people can't do, and her own style also moves the audience.
What I want to say is that the audience does not necessarily demand the protagonist of the movie with a moral benchmark. He must have the universal virtues of human beings to be the protagonist. More often, the audience is watching the story. In order for the story to be moving and moving, the protagonist must show changes within the length of the drama (story), the cynical must find trustworthy love or truth, the upright learn to be accommodating in certain things, and the uninformed must grow up , the sanctimonious will eventually be ruined. The reason why "Genius Ripley" is attractive is that at first a poor boy who had never seen the world was revealed as a thoughtful, cruel and cold-blooded killer as the film progressed. This huge image change surprised the audience. , and could not forget this image long after walking out of the theater.
In fact, the screenwriter and director of this film, Tony Gilroy, has created many successful characters: such as Romez played by Keanu Reeves in "The Devil's Advocate", and James in the "Bourne Bourne" series. Bonn, the success of these images is that Gilroy made a huge difference in their appearance and inner essence at the beginning, and finally made the arc of these characters flash, allowing us to gradually understand the heart of the characters through the surface, and thus love. on these imperfect characters.
This time, the character of "Michael Crichton" may be real, but it is never cute as a screen image. Not only does the character lack flash, but the depth of the character is as thin as Rambo's performance in the sequel. At the end of the film, when the taxi driver Clayton was given 50 yuan to drive freely, this scene originally took on the repressed release process. It's more of a posturing.
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