Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 457-458: Carry on Clooney

We carry straight on from the last post with two more films that involved George Clooney both in front and behind the screen.

We start with Up in the Air, the film which earned Clooney his second Best Actor nomination and was possibly the film that capitalised on his old-school movie star charm. Up in the Air is directed and co-written by Jason Reitman who we first met when he helmed Juno with this film sharing a similar tone with his previous Oscar winner. Just like with Juno, Up in the Air deals with quite a serious subject matter in this case mass redundancies; quite a pressing topic during the recession in the late noughties. The film sees Clooney play Ryan Bingham, a man who fires people for a living and spends most of his time in planes going from different destinations in America. Ryan's life is devoted to racking up 10 million air miles and to presenting his self-help course known as 'the empty backpack'. Up in the Air sees Ryan experiencing two changes in his life, firstly the prospect that he made be grounded and sent back to his office in Omaha. This is due to the fact that whiz kid recruit Natalie has set up a new video conferencing firing system which enables all employees to do their job from the office. Annoyed at this idea, Ryan takes Natalie on the road in an attempt to show her that firing people isn't as simple as she believes. At the same time Ryan encounters Alex, who is also a frequent flyer and the two share a mutual attraction as they marvel at each other's air miles. As the film progresses the commitment-phobic Ryan realises that he might be falling for Alex in a big way. However, in a similar manner to Juno, Up in the Air doesn't finish in the way you think it might and instead there are a few twists littered before the finale.

Whilst promoting Up in the Air, Reitman said that he wanted to make Ryan a likeable character who fires people for a living and to do that he had to cast the most charming actor possible. It's Clooney's charm that makes the film in my opinion and in particular it's the fact that he's now an ageing heartthrob that gives Ryan that extra bit of sympathy. Clooney is great at delivering Reitman and Shelton Turner's fast-paced dialogue and is equally adept at presenting the plot of the film without his lines every feeling particularly expositional. Clooney is fantastically supported by Vera Farmiga as Alex, who more than holds her own in his company and the two form a believable chemistry throughout the film. Similarly great is Anna Kendrick who gave a breakthrough turn as the ambitious but insecure Natalie whose relationship with Ryan is equally as important as his romance with Alex. Reitman added a tinge of realism to the piece by interviewing numerous people who had recently been made redundant and adding their experiences into the film. Reitman asked them to think back to when they were let go and so their responses to Natalie and Ryan's appearance feel totally natural. Juno's JK Simmons also gives a memorable if brief turn as one of the fired employees in a pivotal scene in which Ryan demonstrates to Natalie that the job isn't as easy as she initially believed. Everything about Up in the Air is well-styled from the business suits that the characters don down to the loyalty cards that turn both Ryan and Alex on. If I were to have one criticism of the film it would be that the pace dips briefly when Ryan and Alex attend his sister's wedding however the subsequent final act of Up in the Air more than makes up for it. Despite being nominated for six awards at the Oscars, including honours for the three lead performers, Up in the Air failed to secure one win. This is a shame as I feel it's an incredibly relevant film with three fantastic performances and a brilliant director at the helm.
Three years later, Clooney finally made it to the stage as part of the team of that year's Best Picture winner Argo. Argo was based on the hostage crisis in Iran's American embassy in the early 1980s and more specifically the six 'houseguests' of the Canadian ambassador who'd fled their workplace just before the rioting took place. To get the six out of Iran, CIA operative Tony Mendez came up with an elaborate story to create a fake sci-fi movie, the titular Argo, and pass the Americans off as a film crew scouting locations in Iran. Clooney first learnt of this bizarre story after reading an article about it and so set about producing the picture. Clooney eventually hired Ben Affleck to both direct the piece and star in the role of Mendez; however Clooney himself would only be credited as a producer. Since we last saw him in Good Will Hunting, Affleck's career trajectory had been precarious to say the least initially starring in several flops and being more famous for his relationship with Jennifer Lopez. However, in 2007, he began directing films and earned rave reviews for his first two features; Gone Baby Gone and The Town. His roles both behind and in front of the camera were equally impressive here as Argo was visually impressive and had a fantastic lead turn. As the film goes on Mendez turns to make-up artist John Chambers for help in creating the fake movie who in turn introduces him to veteran producer Lester Siegel. The scenes featuring Chambers and Siegel are where Argo turns itself into somewhat of a black comedy however the balance between these scenes and those of the hostages is excellent. In its third act, Argo becomes somewhat of a thriller as Mendez travels to Iran and attempts to extract the houseguests from Iran. This is easier said than done and I was personally on the edge of my seat to see if they would actually make it through the airport without getting rumbled.

It's easy to see why Argo won Best Picture as it is both based on a real life story and features some lines that feel like they'd been written by a Hollywood insider. I was quite impressed with Chris Terrio's screenplay which, as I previously mentioned, was well-balanced making the film feel both comedic and dramatic at the same time. One of the odd things about Argo's presence at the Oscars was the fact that Affleck didn't even get a look in when it came to the Best Director category. This is partly to do with the fact that not all of the directors of the nine nominated films could feature in a category which only honoured five film-makers. However, I do believe that Affleck's fine direction of the piece should have at least received a nomination over say Tom Hooper's helming of Les Miserables. Affleck himself proved to be a fine lead, here presenting Tony as the harassed everyman who found himself carrying out somewhat of an impossible task. Of the cast, only Alan Arkin was nominated for an Oscar for his role as sharp-tongued producer Lester Siegel. Indeed Arkin's interplay with John Goodman's John Chambers were some of the highlights of the film and I personally loved his rather foul-mouthed explanation of Argo's plot. Rodrigo Prieto's cinematography gave the Iranian scenes an extra sense of dread as he presented the siege at the embassy in a rather dramatic style. Argo managed to keep my attention due to its fine pacing and it's mixture of Hollywood satire and edge-of-your-seat thriller. It also represents the fact that the Academy were selecting more interesting films to win Best Picture as I don't think a film like Argo could ever have won the award twenty years prior. Whether it's win was ultimately the right choice is an interesting debate and you'll have to find out my verdict in my review of the most recent Oscar ceremonies.

Up next we have a look at two films that explored the way that technology was starting to take over our lives in the second decade of the 21st century. 

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 455-456: Growing Paynes

In the last decade, one Best Picture nominee I had the most praise for was Sideways, a beautifully melancholy comedy drama from the pen of Alexander Payne. Oscar seemingly fell in love with Payne after that because both of his next two films were nominated in the Best Picture category.

Seven years after Sideways, Payne's next project was The Descendants; an adaptation of Kaui Hart Hemmings' book of the same name. Just like he did with Sideways, Payne won the Oscar for adapted screenplay this time sharing the award with his co-writers Jim Rash and Nat Faxon. The film itself is based around the life of Hawaiian lawyer Matt King, whose wife Elizabeth has recently been hospitalised following a boating accident. As a result of this, Matt is forced to become a proper father to his mischievous ten-year-old daughter Scottie and her troubled teenager sister Alexandra. Whilst trying to deal with his personal issues Matt is also involved with the sale of an expensive plot of land that was owned by his ancestors. As the lawyer, it's his job to trawl through the legal paperwork and make the ultimate decision whether he and his cousins should sell and to who. Events get even more complicated when Alex reveals that Elizabeth was cheating on Matt with smarmy real estate agent Brian Speer to the extent that she was about to ask him for a divorce. The film then follows Matt's quest to track down Brian, bond with his daughters and decide what to do with the land. At the film's heart is a story about the bonds between family which is represented both through Matt's relationship with his daughters and his decision regarding his ancestral land. I think that Payne and his co-writers did a good job at looking at a man who had essentially been passive all of his life and turn him into someone who had to be active. In a way this is the sort of film I would have a liked A Serious Man to be as Matt King is similar to the protagonist from the Coen Brothers' film. But, thanks in part to Payne's script, you grow to like Matt and his daughters as the film goes on.

A big part of why the film works is due to George Clooney's performance as Matt, in which he changed his image from the debonair film star. Elsewhere in the blog we've seen Clooney play everything from smooth-talking astronaut to intelligent fixer but The Descendants sees him alter his style. Matt is instead quite ineffectual at points and Clooney brilliantly displays his character's hopelessness especially in regards to raising his daughters and Elizabeth's situation. Despite altering his style, Clooney's vocals are still as silky as ever and they are well utilised to deliver several of the film's key monologues. I did feel at times as if Payne, Rash and Faxon were cheating at times by heaping a dollop of exposition onto our plates, but Clooney's delivery is so flawless that it doesn't really matter. Lending able support is Shailene Woodley, who earned a Golden Globe nomination and became a breakout star through her role as the damaged Alex. Woodley and Clooney share a believable chemistry and the scenes between their characters are thoroughly touching. One of my only issues was the fact that Alex had to be accompanied by the frankly useless Sid, a surfer dude who in my opinion served very little purpose. Due to the fact that The Descendants is filmed in and around Hawaii, The Descendants also has some great locations to work from and cinematographer Phedon Papamichael utilises these throughout the film. Further contributing to this theme is the Hawaiian music-heavy soundtrack which I found utterly pleasurable. Whilst The Descendants contains very little in the way of twists and turns it's a lovely little character study on the meaning of family. It also includes one of George Clooney's best performances to date and if you're worried that we haven't had enough of him yet then you're in luck because the next post is dedicated just to him.

But for now we skip two years into the future with Nebraska which, like Sideways, was another road trip film. Interestingly it was the first of Payne's films in which he wasn't actively involved with the screenwriting and instead the script came courtesy of Bob Nelson. Payne had been touted as the director of Nebraska for many years but it was only after completing The Descendants that he decided to work on the film. The key protagonist in the film is Woody Grant, an alcoholic man with two sons and an incredibly outspoken wife who believes he's come into a million dollars. In fact, Nelson establishes right from the start that Woody's money doesn't exist and in fact it's simply a scam set up by a magazine company. Nevertheless, Woody is determined to get to Lincoln, Nebraska to collect his winnings and his younger son David decides to accompany him. In my opinion, Nebraska is as much David's story as it is Woody's as his reason for the trip is to get away from his Montana hometown following his recent break-up. David is another classic Payne protagonist in that he is unlucky in love, has a lowly job as a hi-fi salesman and has a lot less success than his anchorman brother. Along the way David learns that Woody never really wanted children and that he really wasn't bothered about marrying his now wife Kate. The majority of the film's action is set around Hawthorne in Nebraska, Woody's hometown, where he experiences a family reunion of sorts. Despite David's protestations, everybody believes that Woody has won the money and soon people are bothering David asking for money that they loaned to Woody at one time or another. The culmination of the film's story is incredibly sweet-natured as Woody inevitably doesn't get the money he started out wanting but instead gets an even better gift.

I've written a lot about casting choices over the course of this blog and Nebraska line-up of actors certainly benefits the film in the long run. The studio allegedly wanted big names to play the roles of Woody and David, but Payne argued otherwise. Vintage character actor Bruce Dern was chosen to play Woody and earned himself a Best Actor nomination as a result. Dern perfectly portrays Woody as a man who is detached from society for the most part, but who is revealed to have been quite the womaniser in his day. Dern is completely believable as the former alcoholic and you can absolutely understand how he's alienated his family. I personally feel that Dern is at his best when conveying how much the prize-winning letter means to Woody as he frantically reads it throughout the film. Saturday Night Live regular Will Forte was similarly a lesser-known star but really turned in an excellent turn as the begrudgingly compliant David. Forte makes David a character who is easy to sympathise with even though you understand that he's sometimes his own worst enemy. Completing the trio of fine performances is the wonderful June Squibb, who like Dern was given an Oscar nomination for her role as the outrageous Kate. Squibb really portrays Kate as a force-of-nature and she easily makes you believe in her character's backstory. Nebraska is given even more charm by the fact that its shot in black-and-white which makes this traditional story seem even more old-fashioned. I personally felt that this technique really set the film apart from all of its contemporaries and it definitely felt apt for a film from Payne. Although it took a while to get going, Nebraska was funny and poignant look at father-son relationships and once again included a central male character who was detached from the rest of the world.

Next up we have the promised return of George Clooney in his roles as both performer and producer.

Matt's Big Oscar Challenge Days 439-441: A Load of Bullock's

Throughout the last couple of decades Sandra Bullock was mainly seen as an actress who'd fronted a number of successful romantic comedies. That perception slightly changed when she featured in the Best Picture winning Crash and was finally altered for good when she won her only Best Actress Award to date at the 2010 ceremony.

Bullock won her award for The Blind Side, a film which saw her play the kindly but abrupt interior designer Leigh Ann Tuohy. I personally feel though that Bullock isn't the star of the film as this isn't really Leigh Ann's story but rather that of Michael Oher. We first meet 'Big Mike' when his size impresses the coach at the prestigious Wingate Christian School enough to grant him a scholarship. The problem is that Michael can't play for the school football team until his grades improve which is a shame as he doesn't seem to comprehend anything that is being taught to him. At the same time Michael finds himself out on the streets and is rescued by Leigh Ann and her family. The relationship between Leigh Ann and Michael is probably why the film struck a chord with the Academy and why Bullock ultimately received her Oscar. But at the same time I felt this part of the film was rather saccharine as getting to know Michael helped Leigh Ann to grow as a person. Instead I enjoyed watching Michael try attempt to find his place in the world and struggle with the fact that the Tuohy's intentions may not have been all they seemed. Judging from the poster alone, The Blind Side is seemingly about football but there is very little of the sport included in the film. There is only one extended football game in the movie and if you've ever seen a sporting film before you know exactly what to expect. Indeed, The Blind Side isn't very big on surprises but instead is one of those sort of films that Oscar loves to honour that being a 'feel good story'.

Whilst Bullock received all of the praised for The Blind Side I'd instead like to complement Quinton Aaron on his performance as Michael. I felt that he perfectly captured the essence of the gentle giant with Michael having the body of a giant but the mind of a child. I don't think Aaron ever made Michael into a patronising character and instead made him feel incredibly three-dimensional. That's more can be said for Bullock's Academy Award-winning turn in which she seemingly drew inspiration from previous Best Actress performances. Bullock's performance particularly evoked memories of Sally Field in Norma Rae and Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich both of whom won the Oscar for their roles. But while those two characters stood up for something they believed in, all Tuohy did was act as a Good Samaritan for a boy in need. I think my main problem with the role, and the film as a whole, is that there's not much story progression one Michael moves in with the Tuohys. Leigh Ann is definitely a one-note character meaning that Bullock was hard pushed to actually deliver a spot on performance. I believe that Bullock's win was primarily due to the fact that the Academy believed that it was her time to win one. Never mind that there were better performances from less established stars as Bullock was going to win the Oscar regardless of how good she was. The Blind Side's other Oscar-shaped surprise was the fact that it was nominated for Best Picture at all. As I've already mentioned, the 2010 ceremony saw the reintroduction of ten nominees meaning that some mediocre pictures had to be given nods. The Blind Side was one of those films which I believed was simply filling a gap and was one of the reasons that, two years later, the Academy decided to honour between five and ten films rather than a set number.

However, even this new system of picking nominees didn't stop the occasional bad movie turning up and that's just what happened when Bullock's next nominated film turned up. I still remember distinct whooping coming from the audience when Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close's Best Picture nomination was announced to the assembled crowd of press and PR people. This to me signals that one of its main intentions was to garner as many Oscar nominations as possible which is reinforced by the fact it had a limited release during the final week of 2011. The film also includes a ton of familiar faces including Bullock, Tom Hanks, Max Von Sydow, Viola Davis, John Goodman and Jeffrey Jones. Unfortunately for this talented bunch they're simply supporting players with the lead role being taken by Thomas Horn, a young man who had no prior acting experience before being cast in the film's lead role. This to me was one of the key problems with Extremely Loud as the character of Oskar Schell is a tricky one to pull off due to the fact that he suffers from some form of autism. I do feel that even a talented child actor would struggle to make Oskar seem sympathetic so in my opinion Horn was fighting a losing battle. It got to the point that occasionally during the film I just wanted to slap Oskar as Horn wasn't able to convey the fact that his character sometimes spoke out of turn without realising it. As well as including the Academy favourite of a character with a learning difficulty, Extremely Loud's other ace in the hole was that it concentrated on the events of 9/11. Oskar's father Thomas Schell, played by Hanks, was the only person who really understood him and so his son was devastated when he was killed at the World Trade Center. The film centres on Oskar's search to find the lock that fits the key that his father left for him and that had the name Black on it. Although the quest for the mysterious Black is an interesting one, I felt that director Stephen Daldry didn't do enough to make us care about Oskar's end goal.

I personally felt there were only two enjoyable parts of the film the first of which is when Max Von Sydow enters the story as a character simply known as 'The Renter'. The mystery man is renting a house with Oskar's grandmother and cannot speak leading to some interesting odd couple scenes between the pair. It's quite clear that The Renter is Oskar's grandfather as our protagonist starts to notice similarities in the mannerisms between he and his late father. Von Sydow rightfully received Extremely Loud's only nomination although he ultimately lost the Best Supporting Actor fight to Christopher Plummer. I then had to wait until the film's conclusion for something else to grab me namely Sandra Bullock's time to shine as Oskar's mother Linda. Throughout the film Linda had been somewhat of an afterthought but Bullock proved why she'd been cast in the movie during the revelation that her character had been ahead of her son the entire time. The story of Linda's meeting of all of the Blacks was more engaging than anything that Oskar had done during the entire film and it made me wish that we'd have had more of her on screen during the film. Aside from Bullock and Von Sydow everything else about Extremely Loud was felt cloying from the overblown score to the focus on subjects that the producers knew that the Academy loved. I do feel I've been spoilt a bit after watching Hugo, a film with two fine child actors, but I think that if Oskar had been cast more successfully then I would've enjoyed Extremely Loud a little more. Horn had in fact been cast after producer Scott Rudin saw him on a game show and I bet that he regretted his decision after seeing the finished product. Thankfully Horn has now returned to his studies and is putting acting on the back-burner for the time being and let's just hope that his skills have vastly improved if he ever decides to darken the big screen again.

After one film in which I felt she was over-rated and one film in which she wasn't given the chance to shine, I'm glad that Sandra Bullock's talents were finally on display during Gravity. The film is another rare example of the Academy honouring a sci-fi movie, something that still rarely happens despite the increased number of Best Picture nominees. Gravity saw Bullock nominated for her second Best Actress award for playing Mission Specialist Ryan Stone, a biomedical engineer who is currently on her first NASA Mission. The film concentrates on Ryan's predicament after her shuttle is hit with debris from a Russian satellite killing everyone but her and veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski. From there the plot of the film sees Ryan and Matt's mission to get to the International Space Station with a limited supply of oxygen between them. Gravity is very simplistic in nature with Alfonso Cuaron's script, which was co-written with his son Jonas, feeling very basic in nature. Ryan is a character who has gone into space after essentially losing everything as her daughter was killed aged just six years old. Meanwhile Matt is the classic veteran who is on his last NASA mission and is eager to return to Earth. I felt it was quite clear what was going to happen to each character but the ride to the finish line was still expertly plotted. Cuaron's Oscar winning direction was one of the main draws of Gravity due to the fact that he made every moment count. At just ninety minutes, Gravity is one of the shortest Best Picture nominees but its running time is one of its strengths as it adds to the intensity of the situation. Eventually separating herself from Matt, Ryan's endeavours continue as she's forced to go it alone and endures several life-threatening situations. The first time I watched Gravity I was literally biting my nails during the final sequence as I waited to see if Ryan would make it to Earth in one piece.

The fact that Gravity had such an emotional impact on me is a credit to all of the team involved in the film. The Academy agreed with that statement awarding Gravity with seven of the ten Oscars it was nominated for that night. Gravity became one of a number of films that won multiple awards without getting the Best Picture nod only beating Cabaret which won eight but lost out to The Godfather. Gravity's wins included two successes in the sound category which to me was one of the movie's key aspects with the silent nature of the space playing a big part throughout. I personally felt the use of sound added to the dramatic effect of the film with Ryan's voice coming slowly into the film as it began. Steven Price's Oscar-winning score was similarly moving as it echoed Ryan's struggles perfectly and added even more tension to the film's final scenes. Whilst she didn't win an award for the film, a lot of praise has to go for Sandra Bullock for being extremely captivating in a film in which she was on screen for every frame. Bullock's facial expressions were perfectly judged as she made the audience sympathise with a woman who still grieving for the daughter she'd lost. Aside from Bullock, the only other cast member with a sizeable role in Gravity was George Clooney who to me seemed to be channelling Toy Story's Buzz Lightyear. Clooney's charisma was fully exploited in the role of Matt although he came good when he had to act as a mentor to Bullock's rookie astronaut. There was a lot of confusion when Gravity took home the award for Best British Film at that year's BAFTAs especially as it's a film with two big American stars and is directed by a Mexican. However the award-winning Production Design and Visual Effects were all done in several English studios. I do believe that Gravity perfectly exemplifies the skill of the British  Film Industry who worked tirelessly to recreate the zero-gravity atmosphere of the movie. I would go as far as to say that Gravity probably deserved to win the Best Picture award over that year's victor as it's an example of great film-making that contains a compelling if basic story and perfectly utilises modern day cinematic techniques.

Next time we focus on the most recent foreign language film to receive a Best Picture nomination.

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 321: Terry's All-Stars

I do feel that when a director has achieved particular acclaim he can get away with most things. Terrence Malick is one such director who was well on his way to being a legend after helming Badlands and Days of Heaven in the 1970s. Malick took a twenty year hiatus following Days of Heaven so when it was announced that he'd be returning to the screen plenty of actors wanted a role in his new film. Luckily he was able to accommodate a fair few big names into The Thin Red Line, a film focusing on the Battle of Mount Austin fought in the Pacific between the Americans and the Japanese. Malick's first cut of the film was supposedly five hours long and obviously had to be cut down substantially to half of that original length. Even then I feel that the copy of The Thin Red Line I watched was overlong and confusing in some regards. One of my main issues was that of the duelling narration between Jim Caviezel's Private Witt and Nick Nolte's Lt. Col. Tall. Witt's story is that of a man who is dissatisfied with army life while Tall is trying to prove himself to his superiors who feel that a man of his advancing years shouldn't still be at war. Because of this Tall makes some risky decisions and it's one of his final choices that has an impact on the team. Events become even more complicated when Malick introduces another story later in the film as Ben Chaplin's Private Bell discovers his wife wants a divorce. The fact that both Caviezel and Chaplin are given voiceovers was rather confusing as at times I couldn't really tell the pair apart. It was only after he nobly died to save his comrades was when I realised that Witt was meant to be the hero of the piece. That alone should tell you that Malick's script was confusing and that some of what was cut from the film may have been important.

Spare a thought then for poor Adrien Brody, who prior to the release of The Thin Red Line had told people that he was the main focus of the film. After watching the film Brody's appearance amounted to nothing more than a five minute cameo towards the conclusion. Brody was understandably upset by the decision and he feels that Malick should have at least have informed of the changes that had been made prior to the film's screening. But at least Brody made into the film which is more than can be said for the likes of Martin Sheen, Micky Rourke, Gary Oldman and Billy Bob Thronton who all had their scenes cut entirely. As there are so many big names floating around it's incredibly hard to single out one or two actors to praise their performances in the film. Nick Nolte probably gives the best turn as the weary Tall and both Sean Penn and John Cusack made good impressions during their extended cameos. Like with most Malick films, the strongest aspect of The Thin Red Line is in its visuals. John Toll's cinematography is outstanding, especially when we follow the soldiers inside the long grass where they hide during their attacks. Toll's point-of-view shots really make you feel part of the action and in a way add to our understanding of what war might have been like for these men. But to me there was almost too much of a focus on arty camerawork and not enough done on character development. I personally wasn't a fan of certain characters reminiscing about their families back home and thought these scenes represented Malick's undisciplined approach to film-making. Hans Zimmer's score really helped the film achieve the emotional tone it was looking for especially when it accompanied The Thin Red Line's battle scenes. But that being said, ultimately I found The Thin Red Line to be a beautifully shot war film that really never compelled me to care about specific character. Rather than changing my views about Malick as a film-maker its simply reinforced them and I've still not be able to see what others do in this supposedly great director.

Next time we look at three films from a respected British actor who appeared in two Best Picture winners during the 1990s.