Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 407-408: George, by George

We first met George Clooney back in the 1990s when he was one of many actors who had a bit part in The Thin Red Line. At the time Clooney was beginning to breakthrough into movies after coming to prominence as Dr. Doug Ross in E.R. Finishing his tenure with the show at the end of 1999; Clooney ascended to movie star status during the early 21st century. In 2002 he directed his first film, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and three years later would helm his second feature which netted him a Best Director nod.

That film was Good Night and Good Luck; which earned six nominations in all including two for Clooney in both the directing and screenwriting categories. Clooney also starred in the film as Fred Friendly the co-producer of notorious broadcaster Edward R. Morrow. The story focuses on Morrow's various attacks on Senator Joseph McCarthy and in particular his criticism of the scaremongering tactics that were being employed by his administration. The war begins when Morrow criticises McCarthy's prosecution of a young officer without having any proof of his wrongdoings. Their battle intensifies when McCarthy outright accuses Morrow of having communist leanings to which the host of 'See it Now' totally denies. Clooney and co-writer Grant Heslov's script looks at the effects of this war of words on both the CBS network and Murrow's colleagues on the 'See it Now' show. These include Joseph and Shirley; a married couple who have to keep their relationship a secret from their colleagues due to CBS guidelines. Also featured heavily is CBS journalist Don Hellenbeck, who is criticised in the press for being a 'pinko' and who ultimately commits suicide. In my opinion it's the relationship between the staff members that makes Good Night and Good Luck so successful especially when you come to realise they're like a little family. I especially liked the loyalty displayed by CBS Boss William Palley, the father figure of the group, who defended Murrow's actions to the advertisers who were worried about his barbed attacks. I also liked the way in which the film's narrative was book-ended by Murrow's speech to the Radio and Television News Directors Association in which he condemns the way in which TV is dumbing down.

It's clear that in both his writing and direction of Good Night and Good Luck that Clooney has a particular affinity with the 1950s. I wasn't surprised to learn that Clooney's father was a TV news journalist as there seems to be a certain respect of the profession running throughout the film. Indeed Murrow's words about the descent of TV in general looked to be Clooney's critique of the reality-heavy output of 21st century television. The script was just one of the things that made Good Night and Good Luck a solid piece of factual drama that obviously struck a chord with the academy due to its political message. The fact that the film was shot in black and white made it stand out from the colourful films that were nominated alongside it. The decision behind the colour scheme was to do with the fact that Clooney wanted to use black and white archive footage of McCarthy. Interestingly some audience members thought that McCarthy was being played by an actor and actually criticised the authenticity of the performance. However, the acting from top to bottom in Good Night and Good Luck is outstanding and it's hard to pick a weak link from the bunch. I particularly liked the tender turns given by Patricia Clarkson and Robert Downey Jr. as the married couple who had to hide their relationship at work. Ray Wise as the tragic Hellenbeck and Frank Langella as the strong-willed Palley were also on top form. But the stand out turn has to be the one given by David Strathairn as Murrow himself a fact the academy recognised by awarding the star with a Best Actor nomination. Strathairn portrays Murrow as a reserved individual whose passion kicks in as soon as he is able to talk about things that matter. I really liked the fact that the ensemble shared a great chemistry which made the character's family dynamic all the more believable. Whilst Good Night and Good Luck didn't win any of the six awards it was nominated for, Clooney did pick up his only acting Oscar to date for his role in Syriana.

Whilst Clooney did indeed pick up an acting award for Syriana it was in the supporting category and the actor would have to wait another two years to be recognised in the lead actor field. That recognition came for his performance as the eponymous anti-hero in Michael Clayton. Although Clooney had delivered fine performances up to that point he brought an extra tinge of vulnerability to the titular legal fixer. Director Tony Gilroy's script for Michael Clayton was brilliantly structured as he briefly tore away the layers of each character to reveal their true nature. In brief the film sees Clayton called to action by the head of the law firm for which he works when one of their senior litigators has a breakdown during a high profile deposition. Although the troubled Arthur Eden had been dealing with bipolar disorder, Clayton believes that his latest outburst is bigger than simply his illness. Gilroy later reveals that Arthur's paranoid suspicions are valid as he is being followed by goons hired by U-North; the agricultural company that the legal firm were defending. Halfway through the film Arthur is murdered however everyone bar Michael believes that he took his own life. From that point on, the film becomes a conspiracy thriller as Clayton tries to follow in Arthur's footsteps whilst evading suspicion from the U-North group. The unscrupulous U-North is represented by Karen Holder, a brusque general counsel who herself is suffering from mental difficulties. Events come to a head during the film's most iconic scene in which Michael's life is essentially saved by a group of horses. Although the film's ending is a little too neat, I did enjoy the fact that Michael decided to opt on the side of self-preservation while at the same time revealing the truth about the villainous U-North.

Usually I don't like dramas which start halfway through before flashing back to the beginning of the tale. However, in the case of Michael Clayton I think this worked as Gilroy makes the audience anticipate the events that we witnessed during the opening ten minutes. Gilroy's script is perfectly paced as he takes his time to let us get to know the characters before plunging us into the world of conspiracy. The character of Clayton himself isn't every inch the smooth-talking charmer that Clooney had been known for portraying up to this point. Indeed he has his demons which include a serious gambling habit and a recent bankruptcy caused by a bad investment in a bar. Clooney is great at portraying the infallible nature of the character as well as he is when conveying the cool, calm and collected part of Clayton's personality. Giving a similarly brilliant turn was Tom Wilkinson as the troubled Arthur Eden, who may be more sensible then everyone gives him credit for. Wilkinson seemed to be having an absolute hoot playing Arthur, especially when he went off the rails and stripped naked at the deposition. Wilkinson's ability to make us care for Arthur before his eventual demise meant that we then were rooting for Clayton to expose the truth behind his murder. Oddly, although both Clooney and Wilkinson were nominated for Oscars, the only winner on the night was Tilda Swinton. This decision struck me as a little odd as Swinton didn't make any big impression on me mainly as her character Karen Holder isn't on screen for a great deal of time. It almost felt if the Academy were honouring the film as a whole by letting Swinton win one of the seven categories in which Michael Clayton was nominated. Even though I've watched Michael Clayton before it didn't make as big an impression on me as it did this time round. I found it to be an intensely gripping thriller that revealed its hand gradually and was all the better for doing so. However I'm not shocked that it didn't win Best Picture and in a way I'm surprised that it was even nominated in the first place.

Next time we look at a film that occurs over three different timelines that are linked by one specific piece of literary work.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Day 354: Keeping it Hush-Hush

As I've commented in previous posts, by the 1990s many films that were nominated for Best Picture were set in the past. This is certainly true of the next film on our list, Curtis Hanson's L.A. Confidential, which concentrated on 1950s Los Angeles. The film was adapted by Hanson and Brian Helgeland from the novel by James Elroy, with the pair boiling down a lot of the story to focus on three prominent characters. Those characters were Police Officers Jack Vincennes, Bud White and Ed Exley all of whom initially come into contact with one another during a Christmas brawl at the police station. Each man has a fatal flaw to his personality that makes it impossible for the audience to truly warm to them. Exley is incredibly ambitious, White flies off the handle too easily and the smooth Vincennes is more interested in the fame that his job allows. In fact Vincennes often aides magazine editor Sid Hudgens to track down exclusives for his tabloid rag 'Hush-Hush' and also offers advice on cop show 'Badge of Honor'. All three men are later involved in investigating the Nite Owl Killings which resulted in the death of six people at a local restaurant. Initially thought to be the work of a group of low-level criminals, further digging exposes prominent members of the Los Angeles community. The investigation also leads to a relationship between White and prostitute Lynn Bracken, who is one of many sex-workers who have been made over to look like famous movie stars. Through her relationship with White, Bracken hopes to be seen more as herself and less like somebody who looks like Veronica Lake. Hanson and Helgeland certainly craft an interesting story which has plenty of twists and turns along the way. But more than that they make you care about a trio of men who initially come across as unlikeable but are vindicated later when they decide to expose the truth. I did feel that the ending of the film was a little drawn out but nevertheless L.A. Confidential was a satisfying watch and harked back to plenty of films from the time. 

I certainly do feel that Hanson's inspiration for the film was the noir films of the 1940s as well as later offerings to the genre, most notably the L.A.-based Chinatown. Just like with Roman Polanski's film, L.A. Confidential makes the titular film the star of the show as Dante Spinotti's cinematography beautifully captures the Californian scenery of the time. The film's production design is excellent as it convincingly takes you back to a world of both sumptuous glamour and sleazy undertones. Jerry Goldsmith's fantastic score perfectly complements the film's storytelling with its jazzy notes evoking memories of the era. The film is bolstered with a trio of fine central performances, two of which came from men who were relative unknowns in North America at the time. Australian Guy Pearce had made his name on TV soap Neighbours before graduating to films courtesy of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of The Desert. But his role as Ed Exley was certainly his big break as he captured the spirit of a man who was looking to climb the ladder of the police force by any means necessary. Pearce's clean-cut features, which were perfectly offset by a pair of glasses, made him the perfect poster boy for the police force but his facial expression also made the audience constantly mistrust his motives. New Zealander Russell Crowe had achieved similar success to Pearce in Australia with his role in Romper Stomper convincing Hanson that he'd be perfect as the brutish Bud White. Crowe demonstrated a certain intensity throughout the film but was similarly convincing at displaying Bud's more intelligent side. I'm not surprised that his enigmatic turn in this film propelled Crowe into the mainstream and as a result made him one of the biggest movie stars of the new millennium. The more famous Kevin Spacey was perfectly utilised as the charming Vincennes as he gave a charismatic turn as the celebrity policeman. The only Oscar nominee, and eventual winner, among the cast was Kim Basinger who gave a sensitive turn as faded beauty Lynn. Brilliant support was provided by Danny DeVito as the sleazy magazine editor and James Cromwell as the mighty Captain Dudley Smith. 

I'm not surprised that L.A. Confidential was nominated for an Oscar as it provided the perfect nostalgia trip for the Academy members. But at the same time Hanson's film didn't wallow in 1950s nostalgia and instead presented L.A. as a scandalous city in which anybody could be manipulated. The film was rightfully rewarded with a Best Screenplay Oscar and was the early favourite to win Best Picture before a certain ship steam-rolled its way to victory. But L.A. Confidential is definitely a well-rounded film which is great to look at, boasts an incredible cast and has an involving story from beginning to end. 

Next time we watch two films featuring an actor who finally won the Oscar he should rightfully have received in the 1970s.