Michael Clayton Spoilers-Allowed Discussion
05/19/2016
Have at it.
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I liked the way that Arthur's seeming insane rant at the beginning of the film gradually becomes completely reasonable--if gross. ;-)
As I was listening to it, I was thinking, "Why is this going on and on like this? It doesn't take this long to show that he's crazy."
AMDG
Posted by: Janet | 05/19/2016 at 10:15 AM
Yes, I thought that whole set-up at the beginning with the voice-over leading up to the car exploding, then the flashback, was very well done.
And of course the "rant" takes on more significance later.
Posted by: Rob G | 05/19/2016 at 12:01 PM
I found that initial bit fairly confusing myself. But I liked the flashback technique.
I think the scene with the horses sounds a philosophical note that's pretty effective. It's a beautiful scene, and the fact that his life is saved by his stopping to attend to it is effective. Some might argue that it's contrived, and I guess it is, but imo it still works.
I do think the ending is a little too pat.
Posted by: Mac | 05/19/2016 at 02:59 PM
Well, I liked it when he was talking to the woman and saying he was the kind of person that you buy because he was, in a way, describing her also.
And he fact that the picture of the horses came from his son's book--the book he'd been ignoring--and then it saved his life... I especially like that scene because I walk past a corral of horses almost every day and this week one of the mares foaled and so I've been seeing the little one.
AMDG
Posted by: Janet | 05/19/2016 at 03:26 PM
The ending may have been a little pat, but like Stu, I really like the closing, with Michael telling the cabby to just drive. I think you get a great sense that what he needs is a chance to process everything that's happened, and that he is beginning that now. I don't think that your average thriller would have ended on such a human note.
Posted by: Rob G | 05/19/2016 at 05:16 PM
When I referred to "the ending" I meant the way the whole mess is wrapped up, with the recording of Karen, and the arrival of the cops. It seemed overly neat. But I did like the "just drive" bit.
I didn't notice the connection of the horses with the son's book. Unfortunately I deleted the movie from the dvr. I'd sort of like to watch it again now.
Posted by: Mac | 05/19/2016 at 06:25 PM
When he was looking through the book in Arthur's apartment, he saw a picture of three horses in an area like the horses were in. That's why he stopped.
AMDG
Posted by: Janet | 05/19/2016 at 06:39 PM
The reason I noticed the picture is that it had a Pauline Baynes look about it.
AMDG
Posted by: Janet | 05/19/2016 at 08:03 PM
The more I think about it, the more I see how important Henry and his book are to the movie. Henry is constantly trying to call his father back to himself--through the characters in the book who have enemies they don't know and therefore are completely on their own--through his (Henry's) relationship with his uncle, and more, and it's recognizing something from the book where people are called to believe in something that seems an illusion that Clayton has his life saving/changing moment.
AMDG
Posted by: Janet | 05/19/2016 at 09:44 PM
He is the foil to Karen's character. The book he gives his father is red. The book with the info about uNorth is red.
AMDG
Posted by: Janet | 05/19/2016 at 09:48 PM
Oh, and I meant to say that Henry is pointing to another"other way."
AMDG
Posted by: Janet | 05/19/2016 at 09:56 PM
I know you're right about Henry and the book, but I was taking it in a fairly diffuse sort of way. I didn't notice those explicit things. Interesting about the colors of the books.
Posted by: Mac | 05/19/2016 at 11:31 PM
The first review I read, in Chronicles, mentioned the beginning of the horse scene. The reviewer said that when Clayton enters the scene from the bottom of the frame it appeared that someone in the cinema had stood up and was walking towards the screen (You only see him in silhouette at first). You lose this effect when watching at home, obviously, but his point was that this served as a sort of subliminal connecting point between Clayton and the moviegoer. It almost appears as if a real person has walked into the film, thus verifying its "reality."
Posted by: Rob G | 05/20/2016 at 07:10 AM
About the red, this is brought to our attention in the movie first, when Clayton asks his son how he can get the book and Henry says something like, "It's on your kitchen counter. It's red," and then when Clayton goes to pick up the books from the copier, the clerk says that he's sorry that they ran out of red covers and had to do the last ones in green.
None of the reviews that I read said much about Henry which is interesting because the more I think about him, the more important he seems. There is that scene where his father is telling him not to worry, that he won't grow up to be like his uncle. You can't really tell what Henry is thinking at this point. He doesn't seem particularly relieved by what his father is saying. I wonder if he thinking that he would rather be like his uncle, vulnerable though he is, than his father.
AMDG
Posted by: Janet | 05/20/2016 at 07:35 AM
I just watched this the other night. It was really good. The actors were great.
There was, I think, some blasphemy, which I really don't cope with and so, tend just not to watch movies any more.
I agree with the comments about Tilda Swinton, and Henry, and the ending with Clayton in the cab etc.
Posted by: Louise | 05/24/2016 at 08:58 AM