I never fancy him. Anyone does?
I like him in Micheal Clayton & Ocean’s 11.
Hot hottie hot.
I liked him in Michael Clayton, but I think he shows more potential as a director than an actor, despite Leatherheads. If he sticks to interesting stories like Confessions of a Dangerous Mind he could progress like Clint Eastwood, but don’t hold me to that.
He’s better at comedy than drama, imo. Great stuff in O Brother and the otherwise mediocre Intolerable Cruelty…
o brother was a quality film, but i think george clooney was a really shit batman, there was a film with jennifer lopez that i quite liked but i cant remember the name.
Douchebag.
Hollywood Hollywood Hollywood. ‘Syriana’ was the best thing he’s done, and even that fell victim to the studio system, failing to cut into the meat of its own subject matter for fear of political fallout. Did you hear his director’s commentary on ‘Good Night, and Good Luck.’? Sexist and self-important.
Bravo, Toby!
He knows nothing but pretends to be important.
[OPEN LETTER]
Dear George Clooney,
Some people call you a douchebag,
some people call you a hot hottie hot.
I say you are a bit of both.
Added to this, I think you are the only hollywood star that gives me hope in that decaying industry…
… I mean, you at least try!: Confession of a Dangerous Mind, Syriana, Solaris (which sucks), Michael Clayton…
Just keep on trying, and eventually you’ll get there.
All my best,
Juan.
I never knew what the big deal was with George Clooney. I think he wants to be Sinatra though.
I’ve always admired him as a writer and director, back from his Roseanne days. I think he was great in Out of Sight, an underrated flick. Good Night and Good Luck and Syriana were both strong and subversive films. I agree that he has a nice sense of comic timing, best in O Brother Where Art Thou. He was terrible in Batman but he’s the only Hollywood actor I’ve ever heard actually come out and admit that, saying that the film stinks! I think he manages to balance the commercial and indie worlds quite well, doing entertaining jaunts (which I find a bit boring) like Oceans 11 etc before more interesting films. He works hard as a human rights campaigner for Darfur – so I’m all for him, and he can put his slippers under my bed anytime!
I like him since he’s more adventurous with some of his films (like Good Night and Good Luck, Syriana, Three Kings) and he knows when he has made a bad movie. Even though he has a bit of an ego, he’s made some great films.
He makes entertaining mainstream movies with some substance, and recognises a good script when he sees them. He’s pretty much where Michael Douglas was in the late ‘70s/early ’80s (producing the likes of Cuckoo’s nest and The China Syndrome) before his sex addiction diminished his judgement.
Since the Coen Brothers discovered Clooney’s inner ham I’ve learnt to enjoy the guy’s work; before that I just thought Out of Sight might have been a flash in the pan. He’s clearly learnt from Soderbergh and the Coens, since Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Good Night… are solid pieces of work.
Clooney’s finding interesting subject matter but the most out there thing he’s done is Three Kings. I don’t think Syrianna plays it any more safe than Traffic.
What he needs to do is a Warren Beatty; getting the likes of Reds or Bulworth made is no mean feat. Michael Clayton was solid, but it would have need to pull a Parallax View in its third act to really gain any resonance.
A solid actor and decent director. Although his public persona in my opinion will probably get in his way of becoming nothing more than a poor man’s cary grant. Also i think goodnigtht and goodluck was highly overrated.
Clooney is a good actor but in some sort of movies, he can’t go further… in general he keeps doing the same sort of characters…
By the way, there’s a new Coen movie coming soon, “Burn After Reading”, Clooney is one of the principal characters
“From Dusk Till Dawn” was his defining moment.
“I may be a bastard Kate, but I’m not a f@#king bastard.” … pretty much says it all.
Burn after reading looks like a typical coen’s film, a comedy with a bit of dark edges. Can’t wait!
Banal, trivial as actor and director.
I love George Clooney, although I do think he has made some missteps.
He’s delivered good performances in Out of Sight, Ocean’s 11, Three Kings, O Brother Where Art Thou, Syriana and Michael Clayton.
His work as a filmmaker on Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Good Night, and Good Luck has also been impressive.
Everything else, more-or-less, has been disappointing.
I think he’s charming as hell in O Brother Where Art Thou.
Geronimo, not to be harsh but I think your opinion is a little understated and a little over-exaggerated.
Clooney can act, but he takes on a lot of projects that are rather questionable and I think that has been attributed with his career in films. He started out on E.R. and his big break was Out of Sight and Batman, so to make his breakthrough in films he had to take on those types of roles. I wouldn’t necessarily say that he was type-casted, but that’s just how it goes sometimes and even he admitted that.
If you look at what he’s said in interviews later in his career, right around 2001 with Ocean’s Eleven you’ll notice that his opinion shifted toward working on more quality pictures even if they weren’t going to be huge successes. IMDB has good examples of this.
As for an actor, he has good work in Solaris, Good Night and Good Luck, Syriana and Michael Clayton. These weren’t the biggest, most financially successful films, but they are quality work, especially in comparison to his entire body of work.
As a director, did you forget that the second film he made was an Oscar-nominated Best Picture? Good Night and Good Luck was a strong film and it was an accurate commentary on both Edward R. Murrow and McCarthy. Even when I was 16 and the film was over my completely head, I knew it was a good picture.
I absolutely loved Good Night and Good Luck. I liked Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, too, though if it didn’t say “directed by George Clooney” I would have sworn it was a Stephen Soderbergh film; seemed to have all the same visual stylings. Clooney brings sincerity and gravity to all of his roles; if he can steer himself toward some stories with real spark and have some of the luck Clint Eastwood has had, I think he may go down as a great director. He just needs to continue collaborating with wise artists.
I think Clooney figured out his directing chops while working with Soderbergh; I mean, they worked together in Solaris and the Ocean’s films, and Soderbergh produced Syriana. It was also between the Coens and Soderbergh films that Clooney decided to start focusing on “quality” films.
Personally, I think he is at least trying to make good films, even if they are burdened somewhat by the studio system. I found Good Night & Good Luck really well-made, with a strong message that was fairly clear (although I haven’t seen it since its release).
I enjoy old-style in a Hollywood star. And George Clooney brights as the leading heros of the past.
But until now I never watched a great performance by him… and as a director, Good Night and Good Luck is good but not so good.
And… as Yuko said: Hot hottie hot. Goord terms to talk about GC!
Yeah I agree with you guys, though I think the reason why Good Night and Good Luck was successful in terms of his vision for the film, was because he wasn’t very burdened by studio creative control on that project because it was a small budget. You can definitely see his directorial vision and aesthetic highly influenced by Soderbergh’s work. Which is a great thing because Soderbergh has a very keen and controlled aesthetic.
I think the fact that George Clooney is even considered by some to be a good director illustrates the degradation of cinema.
Are his politically-driven, quieter films the best American film has to offer? Of course, his competition are Ron Howard and Michael Moore, but come on.
Taken in the history of film, Clooney is nothing more than a Mel Gibson. Forgettable.
Ouch.
I’m a little shocked at all the Clooney hate from some of these older comments (maybe I shouldn’t be). I’ve come to really appreciate George Clooney and his philosophy towards the business. I used to think of him as a throwaway wannabe-leading man but I think he’s really come into his own. His acting ability is pretty limited but he fully acknowledges this and I appreciate his candor – something you rarely see in the cinema these days. I do agree that he has shown more promise as a director than as an actor however he’s smart enough to know what parts he can act and what he can’t. I’ve never seen him in a movie where I thought he was in over his head and I respect his drive to work with good directors and seek out more interesting projects instead of just making shallow, blockbuster throwaways (like he used to).
I’m excited about his latest films coming out this fall – Men Who Stare at Goats and Up in the Air – and eagerly await his next directorial effort. I didn’t see Leatherheads but Good Night and Good Luck is one of my favorite films from 2006 and Confessions from a Dangerous Mind was an ambitious debut. It’s easy to dislike him because he works within the Hollywood system but he’s one of the few people in Hollywood who I actually respect.
Rica
What do people think of George Clooney these days?
He talked at an interview with Japanese film magazine for Michael Clayton
that his only wish was to make good films.
I know he has a certain presence
but has he ever been a great actor or director?