🎬 #137 Lights, Thinking, Action.
In an interview with a director of one of this week’s films - he mentioned his two touch stones in conceiving the film were First Blood and the other recommendation this week. After watching his film and reading his interview, I rewatched the other he referenced. If that isn’t too confusing. Hard to make sense of it without mentioning the film titles. But all will make sense when you see the recommendations. Enjoy!
Happy choosing, happy viewing
Bry
FILM ONE: MICHAEL CLAYTON
2007 Dir Tony Gilroy
1 hr 59 mins
I haven’t seen this film since it first came out and seeing it again, the memory of how good it is, more than stands up - it’s far exceeded. In a similar vein to the film’s last week - this is part industrial procedural drama, with hints of Pakula paranoia. Clooney plays the titular character, a semi-rogue lawyer often referred to as the firm’s fixer. Seems that there is nothing he can’t sort.
The opening grabs us with an amazing monologue from Tom Wilkinson’s manic chief litigator. His impassioned, lyrical stream of consciousness playing at captivating odds with almost ascetic frames that document the faceless corporate environment of his law firm. It’s one of the simplest but strongest openings I can think of, that is truly mesmerising but not showy.
From there, the film establishes who this character is, why he’s talking up a storm and what Michael Clayton has to do with anything. The threads are woven expertly by Gilroy, and all the pieces told out of sequence come back together at around the 60 minute mark. The point where it all connects and you realise just how brilliantly made this film is.
TL;DR: Tony Gilroy’s film takes us into the shady world of corporate law, conspiracy and the people who take care of the dirty work, all in a practical, every day sort of way.
*Available for a small rental fee on Amazon and Apple in the US and Apple in the UK.
Fact: Produced by Soderbergh and Clooney’s Section 8 production company.
FILM TWO: REBEL RIDGE
2024 Dir Jeremy Saulnier
2 hrs 11 mins
This is the film that Saulnier referred to as a combination of First Blood and Michael Clayton. I’ve been a fan of Saulnier’s since seeing Blue Ruin, but after watching him introduce Green Room at a film festival, I felt invested in him, and wanted him to do well. He was refreshingly unpretentious and down to earth. Not to say that most filmmakers aren’t this way. But I felt that there wasn’t that much of a barrier between us, he was charming, and even stayed in the bar afterward to talk to people. Seems like a solid dude. And after surviving Green Room I was always interested in any project he was attached to.
Rebel Ridge is his latest - definitely more First Blood than Clayton. But there is infuriating injustice that runs through the film, it’s that sense of frustration and inequality that makes the action propulsive and compelling. You want Terry to unleash hell every chance he gets, but he’s remarkably measured at every turn. The blood thirst that I was hoping for brilliantly kept at a distance. The normal cathartic revenge delayed as long as possible, to make something more complex and worthwhile than just action that plays to our base desires. I really enjoyed this - everything about it is solid. Uncutty action - fluid but unshowy camera work. It feels very ‘made’ like an object. Another reason I like Saulnier, his films always have a mechanistic feel to the them - powered by realism and adrenaline.
TL;DR: What might seem like a generically titled actioneer is another thoroughly enjoyable entry in Saulnier’s filmography.
*Available to stream on Netflix in the US and the UK.
Fact: Terry was originally played by John Boyega who had to drop out halfway through the shoot.