Actor Spotlight: George Clooney
Clooney's new movie, The Midnight Sky, hits Netflix on December 23rd
We’re already back in your inbox with more movie content! Two days ago, we dropped our DYLA Christmas Movie Awards, and today we are back to focus on one of the great movie stars of our time, George Clooney.
Since his ER days, it has been clear that Clooney was born to be on screen. His natural charisma and presence is obvious in just about every role he has played. It doesn’t matter if he’s a master thief, a politician, or a boat captain, Clooney gets you to become invested in his character’s fate every time.
Clooney has not appeared in a film since 2016 and he hasn’t directed since 2017. On December 23rd, he will do both in The Midnight Sky, his new space movie debuting on Netflix. As we anticipate Clooney’s return to movies, we shined a light on some of his best performances streaming now.
Billy recommends…
The Descendants (streaming on HBO)
George Clooney hits emotional notes that he does not typically bring into most of his roles. Charisma normally rules the day whenever he is on screen. The Descendants strips that away and you are meant to see his character Matt King at his most sad, angry, and confused. All things that I do not associate with George Clooney and this movie is all the better for it.
Alexander Payne is a perfect director for an actor like Clooney. Payne creates a story about a husband whose wife goes into a coma because of a boating accident. As things worsen we begin to learn more about Matt and his ineptness as a father, but gains clarity on how he wants to improve his relationships that can still be mended.
His chemistry with Shailene Woodley (Alexandra) is particularly notable. She is able to play a daughter like I haven’t seen in many movies. Often the child figure is uniquely their own with little resemblance to their parent. Here we see so much of her in her dad. They way they process grief and the impulsive tendencies of their habits. The Descendants gives the audience direct in your face emotion and smartly gives you a character we want to take the ride with despite that, making the realness of this movie tolerable. This will stick with you for a while after.
Drew recommends…
Michael Clayton (streaming on HBO)
The same year George Clooney appeared as Danny Ocean for the third and final time in Ocean’s Thirteen, he submitted perhaps the deepest and most controlled performance of his career in Michael Clayton. I bring up the Ocean’s franchise because Clooney is playing with the Danny Ocean persona in this movie. His Michael Clayton is cool, poised, and articulate like that character but with an undercurrent of guilt and paranoia. Danny Ocean makes everything look effortless; Michael Clayton works hard to make sure things don’t get out of hand.
Playing the titular character, Clooney’s “fixer” takes care of the dirty work for a high-powered law firm in New York. He’s brought in to clean up the mess made by Tom Wilkinson’s defense lawyer whose bipolar condition causes him to act irrational and paranoid while working on a case for a shady chemical company. Clayton may have a reputation as a “miracle worker,” but as he will tell you, he’s more like a “janitor.”
Part of the reason Clooney is so impressive in Michael Clayton is because the writing is so elite. Writer-director Tony Gilroy, best known for scripting the Jason Bourne movies, sets the scene for a riveting legal thriller that is then brought to life by a tremendous cast. The dialogue in this movie makes you lean forward and want to pay close attention. So many modern thrillers treat these conversations as the obligatory lull between action scenes, but Michael Clayton has a simmering outrage under the surface. It’s a slow burn, but the fireworks are there in the characters’ words, gestures, and facial expressions.
This is what makes Clooney so excellent in the role. As Michael Clayton, the typical winning Clooney charm that we see in Danny Ocean (and other roles) has been worn down, but the Clooney gravitas is still present. This is an underplayed and subtle performance with just the right amount of righteous resolve bubbling under the surface.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (streaming on Amazon Prime)
The usual Clooney performance is calm and under control. He rarely loses his cool. When the Coen brothers get him though? That’s when George lets loose. In all of his work with them, which also includes Intolerable Cruelty, Burn After Reading, and Hail, Caesar!, the Coens like Clooney when he’s witty, loopy, and slapstick. In fact, that may be Clooney’s most underrated weapon as an actor. He’s low-key hilarious when he’s allowed to be.
Clooney is fast-talking convict Ulysses Everett McGill in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the Coens’ Great Depression-era romp through the deep South. Along with co-stars Tim Blake Nelson and John Turturro (aka the Soggy Bottom Boys), he gets mixed up in all kinds of dangerous and hysterical hijinks while searching for hidden treasure. Clooney plays the leader of the group due to his confidence and intellect, but time and again reveals himself to be a flawed and vain man who’s in over his head. Still, no matter how tight of a spot the group are in, Clooney’s character keeps you laughing and entertained. This kind of madcap performance in an outlandish comedy may be oceans away from the smooth operators we’re used to seeing him play, but it’s great to watch Clooney have some go-for-broke fun in his first Coen brothers’ movie.
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