I don't think I consciously made the connection about the evils of the buildings, just took their sterility as part of the underlying corporate dread of the film (even the hitmen are more portrayed as corporate execs than anything else). God I love this movie, glad you saw it.
I'm re-watching First Reformed tonight and seeing parallels with Michael Clayton but not sure if that's because I'm stretching to connect or if they exist...
I will concede that I really didn't like First Reformed. It's preachy where Michael Clayton is layered and suggestive. But yeah, I think that visceral doubt--the kind that makes your skin crawl--about whether anything we've made is worth saving is there in both movies
Clayton is a great film, and the acting is amazing. However, outside of almost being killed, Michael Clayton should have known that the plaintiffs for U-North were likely hurt by the product, and that his firm was getting paid that much precisely because U-North was hiding the fact its product poisoned people. So that final scene with Pollack fell a little flat, because Clayton would, after that many years in that firm, know that they defended a lot of unsavory clients.
Secondly, and I think this is a bit unnoticed. But I think the film intimates that Michael's entire reason why he remains with the firm is because he is Albert's caretaker. Albert is the Firm's most Sr. Litigator, and on their largest case and client. The deal between Albert and Michael seems to me to indicate that Michael and Albert are more intricately intertwined than maybe is clear at first viewing.
Finally, there is one gaping hole in the movie, and it relates to that memo. No way that memo gets signed, much less signed by in-house counsel Don, who is portrayed wonderfully by Ken Howard (RIP). That memo is necessary for the movie to work, but it is also a bit of a reach for anyone who has ever worked in a corporate environment and C-Level Executives, where they remain removed from anything that could attach the stench of anything their Company is doing that harms people or places.
I don't think I consciously made the connection about the evils of the buildings, just took their sterility as part of the underlying corporate dread of the film (even the hitmen are more portrayed as corporate execs than anything else). God I love this movie, glad you saw it.
It's one that will reward rewatching, I have no doubt
I'm re-watching First Reformed tonight and seeing parallels with Michael Clayton but not sure if that's because I'm stretching to connect or if they exist...
I will concede that I really didn't like First Reformed. It's preachy where Michael Clayton is layered and suggestive. But yeah, I think that visceral doubt--the kind that makes your skin crawl--about whether anything we've made is worth saving is there in both movies
Yes that's it! Also, yes, Michael Clayton is a better movie.
Clayton is a great film, and the acting is amazing. However, outside of almost being killed, Michael Clayton should have known that the plaintiffs for U-North were likely hurt by the product, and that his firm was getting paid that much precisely because U-North was hiding the fact its product poisoned people. So that final scene with Pollack fell a little flat, because Clayton would, after that many years in that firm, know that they defended a lot of unsavory clients.
Secondly, and I think this is a bit unnoticed. But I think the film intimates that Michael's entire reason why he remains with the firm is because he is Albert's caretaker. Albert is the Firm's most Sr. Litigator, and on their largest case and client. The deal between Albert and Michael seems to me to indicate that Michael and Albert are more intricately intertwined than maybe is clear at first viewing.
Finally, there is one gaping hole in the movie, and it relates to that memo. No way that memo gets signed, much less signed by in-house counsel Don, who is portrayed wonderfully by Ken Howard (RIP). That memo is necessary for the movie to work, but it is also a bit of a reach for anyone who has ever worked in a corporate environment and C-Level Executives, where they remain removed from anything that could attach the stench of anything their Company is doing that harms people or places.