Oscar Review: Michael Clayton & No Country for Old Men

The last two Best Picture nominees to be reviewed are Michael Clayton and No Country for Old Men. After watching both films, I had similar reactions to each and felt it only fair to review them together.

Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney in the title role, is about a lawyer who works for a large law firm in New York City. Michael Clayton is known as a ‘janitor’ and is used by his firm to clean up messes left by their clients. He finds himself in the midst of a dispute concerning their client, a large corporation, and a small family. Throughout the film, we, the audience, discover that the corporation also has a ‘janitor’ and they will stop at nothing to make sure their record is clean.

I felt that this story was reminiscent of Erin Brockovich. Each had a similar plot in that it was a David vs. Goliath case and lawyers were pitted against other lawyers. However, I thought that Erin Brockovich was a better movie because the viewer can relate to the issues of the defendants and the lawyers in that case. In Michael Clayton, there’s nothing to relate to because the film doesn’t paint a complete picture of any of the characters making it virtually impossible to understand them.

No Country for Old Men shows the truly dark nature of humans. It is set in and around small Texas towns in the year 1980. The film opens with a rather distinguishable voice over describing a criminal that was incarcerated for heinous crimes he had committed. The story was told by the officer who caught him. Throughout the introduction quiet images of the small Texas town are shown to provide background. The first character shown is a man dressed completely in black. The first action to take place is a killing by this character. Later on, another character is introduced. This man is a hunter who stumbles upon a large amount of money. His greed drives him to take it and then run from the man in black throughout the rest of the movie.

I found this film interesting because of the lack of music. It is totally driven by dialogue and sound effects. I felt that made the villain more threatening and the film more suspenseful.

I had high hopes for both of these films. The hype surrounding them and their nominations for Best Picture stirred my interest in them. Unfortunately, they each fell flat. The interesting thing is that they both fell flat the same way. Each film had an exceptionally good build up, but little or no climax. I think I would have felt more fulfilled had I been more drawn in by the story. The cinematography and filmmaking in each movie was spectacular as was the acting. I also felt that the writing, dialogue-wise, was brilliant. It just wasn’t enough to win me over.

Oscar Notes: I see both of these films being big winners in categories other then Best Picture. After seeing all of the Best Picture nominees, I feel that There WIll Be Blood is probably the favorite. My personal favorite from the category is Juno because it is enjoyable to watch, followed by Atonement, which was the 2008 Golden Globe winner for Best Motion Picture.

Michael Clayton - nominated in the following categories.

• Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
• Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
• Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
• Achievement in Directing
• Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)
• Best Motion Picture of the Year
• Original Screenplay

No Country for Old Men - nominated in the following categories

• Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
• Achievement in Cinematography
• Achievement in Directing
• Achievement in Film Editing
• Best Motion Picture of the Year
• Achievement in Sound Editing
• Achievement in Sound Mixing
• Adapted Screenplay