Feature by Justin Whitton
In 1998, few would have predicted that Out of Sight would be the film that transformed George Clooney’s career. The spectacular failure of Batman and Robin, combined with a lukewarm reception to The Peacemaker (the first major Dreamworks project), seemed to have condemned Clooney to the list of hugely successful television actors who had failed to make the transition to the big screen.
But Out of Sight changed all that. This low-budget adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s crime caper novel became a surprise critical hit. It proved that Clooney could carry a film as a leading man, and that he was a ‘serious’ actor of some quality. More importantly, perhaps, Out of Sight introduced Clooney to writer-director Steven Soderbergh (whose own career had stuttered somewhat after the success of his debut feature sex, lies and videotape). Clooney’s subsequent partnership with Soderbergh has been a key ingredient in establishing him as an A list Hollywood star.
Since the release of Out of Sight, Clooney has worked with respected directors like Wolfgang Petersen and Joel Coen, and contributed to the eye candy appeal of Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven and his questionable follow-up Ocean’s Twelve. His own debut behind the camera, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, was well-received, and he and Soderbergh formed their production company, Section Eight, in 2000. Through Section Eight, Clooney has produced or executive produced an impressive array of films. Some have been successful (notably Insomnia and Far From Heaven), others less so (Rock Star and The Jacket, for example). But all have contributed to Clooney’s increased stature in the industry.
This transformation was completed in January when Clooney was nominated for Academy Awards for two different films in three separate categories – a rare achievement. If his most likely chance of success is his Best Supporting Actor citation (for Syriana – stop press: he won!), it is his writing and directing nods for Best Picture nominee Good Night, and Good Luck that are surely the most satisfying.
It is certainly a far cry from Clooney’s early forays into film acting in the late 1980s, consisting of small roles in such forgettable films as Return to Horror High and Return of the Killer Tomatoes. These disappointments prompted a return to television, the medium where he had earlier achieved only modest success. He was 33 when he hit the jackpot with the role of Dr Doug Ross in ER, a part he wisely opted to play for only five years. He achieved fame relatively late in his career, something the actor himself has acknowledged was no bad thing. When Clooney did make the breakthrough, he had the maturity and experience to make it count. He is reaping the benefits now.
George Clooney might not be the most versatile actor around, but the relaxed charm he seems to ooze naturally on screen can quickly give way to a harder edge. He has given convincing enough performances as a sea captain trying to deal with The Perfect Storm and as one of the Three Kings who finds unexpected treasure while on duty in the Gulf War. The role of Ulysses Everett McGill in Coen’s O Brother, Where Art Thou? required him to play a more loquacious character than usual, but he succeeded in winning a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. Clooney is aware of his limitations as a performer, but has still put together an impressively varied filmography as an actor. More so than most big stars, he is comfortable in ensemble productions (Good Night, and Good Luck being a noteworthy example) and does not try to force his personality into a film.
The metamorphosis from pretty boy to man with many filmmaking hats may not constitute a road untravelled: Robert Redford and Warren Beatty had each won a Best Director Oscar by the time they were 45, the age Clooney turns in May. Of course, both Beatty and Redford achieved stardom at a much younger age than Clooney has done. But it is instructive to contrast their respective involvements in their own projects. Any film directed and/or produced by Beatty tends to be very much a star vehicle for the actor himself; Redford has, with one exception, preferred not to appear in the six films he has directed. Clooney’s approach has been somewhat in between. He has taken small but important supporting roles in his two directorial efforts to date, as if to emphasise that while the film is not about him, he does identify strongly with the subject matter.
The subject matter, in both cases, is potentially controversial politics. Even prior to making Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (about television producer Chuck Barris, who claimed to have been a CIA agent), Clooney’s acting choices reflected an interest in contemporary political issues (The Peacemaker, for example, raised the threat of international terrorists using nuclear weapons). But he has gone even further now, offering criticism of the Bush administration rather more subtly, but no less effectively, than Michael Moore. In Syriana, Clooney plays a CIA operative trapped in conflict in the Middle East – a strong reference to American foreign policy in that troubled region. And while Good Night, and Good Luck appears to be a period piece about the McCarthy era, there are clear and convincing links to the abuse of the media by contemporary politicians – and not just in the United States. In making these career choices, Clooney has joined a high-profile list of major cinema figures to have spoken out against the current government – a list, incidentally, that includes Beatty and Redford.
Recent reports suggest that Clooney will move away from producing in order to concentrate on acting and directing. Later this year he returns to a leading man role in Soderbergh’s The Good German, set in Berlin just after World War II. He is currently filming Tony Gilroy’s thriller Michael Clayton and is set to reprise the role of Danny Ocean, yet again, in Ocean’s Thirteen. He has yet to reveal any details about forthcoming projects behind the camera, but it is likely that his choices will be films that make us think. Judging by his remarkable transformation, George Clooney is a man who thinks a lot.
|
