number6horse
okyoutwopixiesoutyougo
I just returned from seeing Michael Clayton. Very, very good film. All three central actors - George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, and Tilda Swinton - deliver the goods. This is the kind of thriller I like. A minimum of gunplay/violence and no goddamned car-chases or exploding helicopters, thank you very much. Hitchcock managed to enthrall the viewer without overly-relying on such action gimmicks*, and so does this director, Tony Gilroy. You either have a strong script, or you don't. This one centers around a law firm defending a rotten international agriculture corporation, but there's nothing dry or boring about it.
* I know, I know....Psycho, The Birds, etc... But he didn't have to solely rely on them to keep you involved.
Jellon Lamb: Forgive me, sir, but I've been stuck here with no one but this sorry sack of Hibernian pig shit for conversation. Poor, poor Dan O'Reilly. Sit, sir. Drink with me.
[Charlie cocks his gun and points it to Lamb]
Charlie Burns: One more crack about the Irish, Mr. Lamb, and I'll shoot you. Am I clear?
Jellon Lamb: Oh, as the waters of Ennis, sir. Let us drink, then, to the Irish. No finer race of men have ever... peeled a potato.
[Charlie cocks his gun again and points it to Lamb]
Charlie Burns: Do you pray, Mr. Lamb?
A friend of mine (a screenwiter himself), just recommended this the other day. That dialogue looks terrific. I need to hunt this one down, too. Thanks for posting, Erik.
My favorite exchange of dialogue in Michael Clayton occurs between Clooney, a lawyer trying to help his partner, played by Wilkinson, who is in the grips of a manic episode...
Wilkinson : I don't know who I am anymore !
Clooney : You are the senior litigating partner in Kenner,Bach & Ledeen. You are a legend !
Wilkinson : I am Shiva ! The God of Death !
Clooney : (sigh) Let's get out of Milwaukee and we'll talk about it.
* I know, I know....Psycho, The Birds, etc... But he didn't have to solely rely on them to keep you involved.
Jellon Lamb: Forgive me, sir, but I've been stuck here with no one but this sorry sack of Hibernian pig shit for conversation. Poor, poor Dan O'Reilly. Sit, sir. Drink with me.
[Charlie cocks his gun and points it to Lamb]
Charlie Burns: One more crack about the Irish, Mr. Lamb, and I'll shoot you. Am I clear?
Jellon Lamb: Oh, as the waters of Ennis, sir. Let us drink, then, to the Irish. No finer race of men have ever... peeled a potato.
[Charlie cocks his gun again and points it to Lamb]
Charlie Burns: Do you pray, Mr. Lamb?
A friend of mine (a screenwiter himself), just recommended this the other day. That dialogue looks terrific. I need to hunt this one down, too. Thanks for posting, Erik.
My favorite exchange of dialogue in Michael Clayton occurs between Clooney, a lawyer trying to help his partner, played by Wilkinson, who is in the grips of a manic episode...
Wilkinson : I don't know who I am anymore !
Clooney : You are the senior litigating partner in Kenner,Bach & Ledeen. You are a legend !
Wilkinson : I am Shiva ! The God of Death !
Clooney : (sigh) Let's get out of Milwaukee and we'll talk about it.