I saw Michael Clayton and I haven't meant to post so much about movies, but I liked this one. My first reaction upon seeing the ads was, of course, "Hey, no one who looks like George Clooney works in my law firm." (Apologies to all the men in my law firm, but, hey, you know.) But the film itself explains why that is so. It's a realistic depiction of the life, without reality doing that dull-down thing that reality can do.

These characters don't stroll the corridors of power in Cole-Haans, working out, barking orders and arriving home in time to cook their overachieveing but affectionate teenagers healthy gourmet meals. No, they labor, estranged from all that really matters, in overcrowded conference rooms, pawing through document boxes, snarling at each other and living out the law firm version of the Henry Kissinger-attributed axiom that "the politics in academia are so vicious because the stakes are so small." (I may have misquoted that, but my knowing that quote at all was so novel to my snobbish future boss that it led to my first full-time job in a law firm. And no, I'm not a lawyer, so don't start.)

So the characters sweat and swear and fight for tiny pieces of turf; they are compromised, indebted, immoral, besieged, bitter, and starved for the beauty of life. Real law firm. Nice set design, by the way!

The audience, when I saw it, was full of the kind of people you don't want to be associated with -- the kind the studios don't make movies for, the kind the nightly network news caters to. But they were there. On opening weekend. I'm just sayin'. And there were marketing researchers there as well. As someone who works in marketing (there, I've said it), I believe it is my moral obligation to fill out marketing surveys, but on this one ("you want to see more movies like Michael Clayton made?") I have to admit I lied I little. I portrayed myself as a younger and hipper version of myself. But then, who doesn't?

That same weekend, I saw Hamlet by a dear little repertory company which performs the classics. I (geek alert!) love a good Hamlet. I've been a Hamlet fan since I was thirteen, which, as you might imagine, made me way popular in high school. The problem is, a year after my father died, I treated myself to a trip to England, where I saw the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Hamlet at Stratford-upon-Avon, with Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet and gosh, it kind of ruined me for life. That production was perfection. My subsequent Hamlets (six? seven?) have been so forgettable I've forgotten them. This dear little rep's production is at least straightforward, but it lacks the heart and grieving of the RSC production which so spoke to me then.

How are these two entertainments tied together? Hollywood A-list film and tiny little production of a classic?

The nagging, nasty pull to do the right thing when doing so will undo your whole life. Because not to take arms against that sea of troubles will kill you, but so will the alternative. And the importance of honoring the dead -- no, not just the dead, but the lost ones who taught you how to endure.

So, yeah. See Michael Clayton. Support your demographic! And take a look at Hamlet again.

Labels: Hamlet, law firms, Michael Clayton

posted by Elizabeth at 8:31 PM