This movie didn't really do it for me until that last "Screw you, I hold all the cards" moment Clayton had with whats-her-face. I always love those times in movies. But anyhow.
I know that corporations can be ruthless, but that whole scheme seemed just a bit far fetched for me. I like Clooney as the "fixer" or "janitor," I'm sure such men and women do exist. But hired killers? Contracted by a woman as nervous as that? It's starting to seem just a bit over the top. Too much Hollywood need for that extra element of danger. Clayton's symbolic, spontaneous moment of communion with nature that just happens to save his life was just a bit too contrived for me as well. My favorite performance was definitely Arthur's; his switches between confident lucidity and insane outbursts were amazing.
As for content, I was expecting more of either focus on the ecological problem itself, or some actual time in the courtroom. It was an entertaining movie, sure, but I didn't really feel I got to learn all that much, which I was kinda looking forward to. The focus was more on Clooney's general self-loathing or disgust with his job than on the actual ecological damage done by U-North, or its ramifications for the farmers it hurt. I'm kinda having a hard time analyzing it through the other texts we've read, aside from "Corporation bad, hurt environment." I can see how it relates to Cancer Alley and everything, sure, the corporation is chemically harming and disregarding some poorer people (though they were white, unlike some of the ones we read about), but like I said earlier, that actual issue is taking a backseat to Clooney's personal troubles.
