Michael Clayton, We Own the Night

Michael Clayton - This is the kind of movie that is a little bit hard to explain. Why? Well, it takes all of about the entire two hours to finally get a grasp on what exactly is going on. Guess what? I love movies like that. Also, the plot is just a little bit complicated. George Clooney plays Michael Clayton, a "fixer" for a high-powered law firm in New York City. Said firm is representing a manufacturing company, U North, in a class action libel suit that says their weed repelent has killed family members. Tom Wilkinson is the lawyer in charge of that case (but also, he's sort of making a case against them). Tilda Swinton is a sort of public relations person for U North. Sydney Pollack is the head honcho at the law firm. These are the main characters you need to worry about. The movie surely requires a lot of attention, but it's not the convoluted jigsaw puzzle I'm making it sound like. There are a lot of secondary characters involved in the story that make explaining it difficult. There are also various important pieces of information that I wouldn't want to give away. The film makers aren't spoon feeding the audience but they also haven't made the movie something you can't understand (David Lynch didn't direct it, after all). To make things generic, the basic plot is not unlike 'A Civil Action' or 'Erin Brokovich.' But unlike either of those films, this film works on a much higher level. It unfolds in a spell binding way. It's completely engrossing (except for the middle section which dragged a bit for me but whatever). The story telling is mesmerizing. The dialogue is pitch perfect. And those performances! The spotlight surely falls on Clooney - as it always does. He's amazing, for sure (especially while the credits role - don't look at them - look at everything that is happening in Clooney's face... those 2 minutes alone are nomination worthy). But the real stand-out here is Wilkinson. He does over the top with a subtle nuance and it's just perfect. He's on my short list for Best Supporting Actor. Holding it down for the ladies is the amazing Tilda Swinton. You can have your Cate Blanchett. I'll take Tilda. She's amazing to watch. There is a particular scene in which she practices a speech while getting ready for work that just knocked me out. The movie is not without it's flaws of course. It's hardly convincing that lawyers wouldn't know better than to assume Clayton died in a fiery car crash when there was clearly no body. Also, the final 10 minutes is terribly predictable and cliche. Although, Clooney and Swinton somehow make it almost work. Maybe I'm just getting tougher. After all, pretty much every movie that comes out after September wants to be considered for an Oscar. If this movie was released in, say, April, it probably would have gotten a higher grade.
Grade: B

We Own the Night - There's a lot to like with We Own The Night. Unfortunately, there's a lot to dislike as well, especially after last year's fantastic The Departed. This movie will inevitably be compared to that movie and it's almost not fair. But guess what? Both are complicated mob/cop movies. The Departed is as close to perfection as possible. Compared to Scorsese's masterpiece, We Own the Night is mediocre at best. The movie which takes place in the 80s (wonderful setting) in New York City follows Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix), a nightclub manager who has a hot girlfriend (Eva Mendes) and a decadent drug fueled lifestyle. Meanwhile, his brother Joseph (Mark Walhberg) just got promoted to the captain of the drug inforcement task force on the police department. Their father (Robert DuVall) is also a respected and veneered police officer. That's the basic plot. What are the fatal flaws here? The characters are terribly contrived. The storyline is a little bit nonsensical (I really don't want to ruin anything but Phoenix's character makes such a drastic character change near the end that I just personally find hard to believe). There are quite a few boring parts. The acting is superb but that's to be expected with such a high caliber cast. The on-screen family, however, has little chemistry together. Mendes' character is annoying and a bit ridiculous (she and Phoenix take part in the most gratitous, unnecessary sex scene in recent memory). There's a lot of things that don't make a lot of sense (where is the cop back-up? why is DuVall so mad at Phoenix just for managing a nightclub? why would the drug dealer just hang around in the city?) . They give us reasons for some of this stuff but they don't satisfy my curiosity. But the movie definitely isn't all bad. The two shootouts are well done with a lot of shaky camera, which makes them more exciting. The final cat and mouse game in the long grass is thrilling and engrossing. There's a car chase in the pouring rain that will make your heart stop beating. Overall, the movie is barely more than average.
Grade: C+

The TV Set - I would definitely recommend this movie. It's fun and funny, witty and well done. It's an interesting look at how exactly a television show gets made. Grade: B-

Lucky You - Ah, my most hated film genre - the romantic comedy. It is my mortal enemy. This movie is about 30 minutes too long. It's also a shame that Texas Hold Em' is so 2005. But, kudos for small roles from Robert Downey Jr. and Michael Shannon. Grade: D

Reign Over Me - I'm about 3/4 of the way through this movie right now and it's so boring that I am doing this instead. I heard so much about Adam Sandler being Oscar worthy? Are you kidding me? Don Cheadle is wiping the floor with him. Grade: D (as of right now anyway).