I saw this movie in theaters two weekends ago, and then again during my Best Picture nominee day yesterday.

Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is a fixer for a prestigious law firm who is sent to clean up a mess with one of it’s largest clients and longest running cases, U North. The firm’s leading attorney has recently lost his mind and has started to do rather crazy things, but Clayton starts to wonder how far gone he really is as he learns more about the case and which side he’s on. After watching the trailer and reading many plot descriptions, I went in fully expecting to be bored and completely lost during this film. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Not only was I able to follow it with no problem, but the plot didn’t get murky at all, as expected. It was very clear, concise, and incredibly suspenseful. I loved it the first time I saw it, and the second time it only got better. This is easily one of my favorites amongst the Best Picture nominees. The performances are incredible and every nomination this film got was very deserved. During the Best Picture screening (for which we had a great crowd), people laughed in all the right places, cheered, and applauded as the credits rolled. If you’ve been put off at all from trailers or other reviews (which I definitely was), go see it for yourself and develop your own opinion. This film is fantastic and easily one of the best films I've seen this year. Unfortunately, as I’ve said before, this is going to be one of those films that gets a ton of nominations and wins nothing. Nearly every category it’s nominated in has a distinct front runner to take the award.

Nominations:

Best Picture
It’s in great company here and ties with No Country as my second favorite nominee (I just love Juno), but No Country is easily more Best Picture material than anything else here.

Best Director – Tony Gilroy
For a first time director, this is a great place to be. He won’t win this year, but if he continues to progress from here I don’t doubt he’ll have a statue soon enough.

Best Actor – George Clooney
Everybody knows that Clooney can do no wrong. Here’s another great performance from him, but he’s said so himself that it would be a crime if this award goes to anyone but Day-Lewis.

Best Supporting Actor – Tom Wilkinson
If Javier Bardem wasn’t in this category this year, Wilkinson would have this category locked. He is amazing, but unfortunately won’t be taking this home.

Best Supporting Actress – Tilda Swinton
If this film wins any awards tonight, this is where it will be. Swinton is fantastic in this film, her performance in the final scene is just ground breaking. I think she’ll fall into my “Should Win, but Won’t” category though, as I think this race is between front runners Cate Blanchett and Ruby Dee.

Best Score
Didn’t notice the score much on the first viewing, but the second time I watched it I listened for it. It’s good, but Atonement dominates here, in my opinion.

Best Original Screenplay
Here's another lock of the night with Juno, but this script is very well written. Great nomination, but likely won't win.