The life of Michael Clayton

****I am going to link the movie Michael Clayton to Robert Oppenheimer - father of the atomic bomb, Vishnu/Krishna/Shiva/Harihara, the Bhagavad Gita, local gay poet Cyril Wong and I hope you lose your patience and attention along the way....****

I know the way this movie was publicised would lead many to think it is a story about a lawyer and a mega case, how he, Michael Clayton, this hotshot lawyer, as portrayed by George Clooney, will turn it around and win it. Although a class act is mentioned and forms the backbone of the movie but it is misleading. There is no courtroom drama.

Even the movie tagline - "The Truth Can Be Adjusted", is misleading.

The movie is really about Michael Clayton. He who is a well-known fixer in a respected law firm, compulsive poker player, failed husband, trying to be a good father to his young son, good friend/colleague to a manic depressive, having a lukewarm relationship with his detective brother, son to his father, failed businessman, in trouble with the loansharks, etc etc etc... He really thinks he is a weak person because there is a little scene where he tells his son that he sees alot of steel in the young boy, but he does not know where that came from (ie. not from Michael Clayton....am I losing you here? Pay attention to the movie dialogue....).

That us why it was titled Michael Clayton and not anything else.

How good was this film? Well, it was good enough to filter out movie goers from film buffs. About an hour into the 2-hour movie, this couple behind me left. The girl was already whining 30 minutes into the movie saying the film was a complete bore. I turned around just in time to see the couple. The guy had the type of haircut similar to what the Taiwanese boy bands have now and he was carrying a few stalks of flowers. The girl was in some frock thing. They were obviously film buffs. (insert sarcastic tone) No patience for quality to show. I jest.

It is interesting to note that the characters, Arthur (Tom Wilkinson) and Michael Clayton (George Clooney) said, "I am Shiva, God of Death!" Recently Cyril Wong was interviewed by AssTee and he mentioned how Harihara was formed through the merging of Shiva and Vishnu (some homoeroticism) thing..... The law firm that Michael Clayton is working for is also heading for a merger. Well, anyway, Shiva and Krishna are essentially one and the same. Wait, or is that Vishnu? Or Krishna is his avatar? Anyway, wasn't it Robert Oppenheimer who made famous the line from the Bhagavad Gita, quoting Krishna, "For I have become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds." after seeing what that his research had led to the Atomic Bomb. Perhaps this was how the Arthur felt because he was responsible for allowing travesty to happen through his litigation work.

Watch this or miss out. George Clooney is so good. No melodrama. Just perfectly timed nuances.