Director: 9/10
Acting: 9/10
Overall Rating: A-
*****Lots of spoilers, please read carefully*****
Black-hearted company makes black-hearted money, gets sued, hires People do the job of putting out fires. However, paper can never hold fire, our protagonist executes justice, exposes conspiracy, and brings bad guys to justice.
Listen, what a corny story. But how can such an old-fashioned story still get a thumbs-up?
In today's world, everything is different. The reason why "Michael Clayton" is outstanding lies in its difference, that is, seeing the magic in this ordinary story, relying on the storytelling techniques, the meticulous performances of the actors, and the unique atmosphere deliberately created with photography skills. Here’s a look back at some of the great differences:
Classic Scene 1: The
ins and outs are narrated by Arthur (Tom Wilkinson), whose seemingly insane, apparently clueless, but lawyer-like logic is cool (it’s actually a phone call from Arthur to Michael Clayton). Message) cut in, but the picture is of a small clerk pushing a small document cart walking in an empty, dark and silent office building. At the same time as the end of the self-report, suddenly, the cart on the screen suddenly entered a busy room full of people and brightly lit, in stark contrast to the empty silence just now.
Classic scene 2:
Karen's irritable and flustered preparations and the constant switching of calm speech scenes highlight the woman's extreme fear of facts and her unscrupulous cover-up psychology.
Classic scene 3:
Arthur was brought down from entering the door to being completely dealt with. The 2 minutes and 15 seconds of the shot was done in one go, extremely cold.
Classic scene four:
Karen's empty eyes and body shaking after being exposed is the sad end of this character, but it is unequivocally the peak of Tilda Swinton's acting career.
Classic scene five:
The same long shot of 2 minutes and 15 seconds at the end of the film is just for Michael's face sitting in the taxi from the beginning to the final smile, giving a perfect and meaningful summary of the whole film. This is probably the magic weapon that made George Clooney nominated for the Olympics again.
"Michael Clayton" uses his personal name as the title of the film, which is really bad to be honest (the Chinese translation of "hero" is not very good, because this Michael Clayton is hardly a "hero"); The poster that says "The Truth Can Be Adjusted" sucks too. But of course the movie still depends on the content. The most complete drama film, although the results are completely predictable, but the first film in which Tony Gilroy, who adapted three "Bourne" films, picked up the guide tube and used a hundred trials under the condition that the story is not very good. The unpleasant flashbacks, as well as the superb editing and use of the camera, have achieved such an excellent overall effect, and the acting skills of "seducing" Oscar-level actors are truly admirable.
"Michael Clayton" may not be the best movie of 2007, but the classic scenes I mentioned above are enough to make it one of the most evocative movies of 2007.
[From my blog "Watching Movies with Old Tofu"]
http://oldtofu.blogspot.com/2008/02/michael-clayton.html
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