Plot: What’s it about?
It must be that time of year again, the films that were nominated for Best Picture are now starting to trickle onto DVD (or in this case, Blu-ray). I’ve had the chance to watch the Best Picture winner “No Country for Old Men” and felt it a worthy choice for Best Picture and with “Michael Clayton” this marks the second of the nominated films. I hardly ever go to the movie theater anymore what with the window between a movie coming out and arriving at my doorstep, I feel it’s not worth the effort most of the time. And let’s talk about George Clooney, shall we? Ten years ago, he was perhaps the hammiest actor in Hollywood. He was panned for his “head down, eyes up” acting style but somewhere along the line he ran into Steven Soderbergh and the rest, as they say, is history. He’s made some of the most daring choices since his critical acclaimed “Out of Sight” hit theaters a decade ago and is arguably the leading (if not last) movie star in the world. Gone are the days of “One Fine Day”, “The Peacemaker” and “Batman and Robin” (thank God) and the new millennium ushered in a new wave of Clooney movies. “Michael Clayton” is the latest in Clooney’s endeavors to buck the system and I think he’s really done it this time.
Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is what they call a “janitor” in that he cleans things that need to be cleaned and fixes things no one else can. Yes, he’s a lawyer and a good one at that, but that’s not what he’s being paid to do. He’s $75,000 in debt after his restaurant went belly up and has evidently had a problem with gambling in his past. This all takes a backseat to his current situation in, one that could end up costing him his life. Clayton’s firm is negotiating a high dollar merger with a company in the Midwest called UNorth and the leading attorney (Tom Wilkinson) is in the process of losing his mind. Clayton has somewhat of superficial relationship with his estranged son and though he loves him, it’s painfully obvious the two are somewhat distant. Add to this the fact that Clayton is trying to be killed and we’ve got ourselves a pretty interesting movie here. Who knew lawyers could have so much fun?
Although “Michael Clayton” didn’t take home more honors than Best Supporting Actress, I feel it should have. Tilda Swinton’s performance didn’t really do anything for me. I kept waiting for something outstanding to occur but it never really did. She wasn’t bad in her role, per se, but I just didn’t see “Best Supporting Actress” on her role. However I’m not a voting member of the Academy so it doesn’t matter what I think. “Michael Clayton” is a tense, taut thriller that has a lot more to it than meets the eye. Clooney carries the movie on his shoulders and a strong supporting cast doesn’t hurt either. Director/Actor Sydney Pollack has a large role and Tom Wilkinson, though a bit hammy, delivers yet another great performance. Don’t let the title fool you, there’s a lot more than meets the eye when watching “Michael Clayton”.
Video: How does it look?
Warner has presented “Michael Clayton” in a very wide 2.40:1 VC-1 HD transfer that leaves little to the imagination. Of course, I’d be surprised if this transfer wasn’t anything but perfect (or nearly) and thankfully I wasn’t let down. The movie has a very gritty look and feel to it, but oddly most of the frames seem very glossy. Black levels are right on target and though the entire palette used seems a bit under-satuated, it’s not a bad transfer in the least.
Audio: How does it sound?
The included Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack isn’t much to listen to. Yes, you read that right, no PCM uncompressed mix, no Dolby TrueHD or even a Dolby Digital Plus, this as standard as they come and I was pretty shocked when there wasn’t a HD option for sound. That’s ok though as “Michael Clayton” isn’t really one of the more audio-driven movies out there. Yes, a car blows up and I’m sure that scene might have sounded a bit better with uncompressed sound, but all in all the movie is dialogue-driven and the 5.1 soundtrack does a good job reproducing the audio.
Supplements: What are the extras?
Strangely for such a critically-acclaimed movie, we don’t get many supplements. There’s a commentary track, and a good one at that, with writer/director Tony Gilroy that tells of the scrips and the adaptation and we get some additional scenes. I feel we’ll probably get a more robust edition down the road, but for the time being this is what we’ve got.
