- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday July 1 2008 14.47 BST
- The Guardian, Tuesday July 1 2008
What's not to admire in George Clooney? The guy is impossibly good looking and irresistibly charming. He can act. He's not stupid. When he's not off oiling the Hollywood machine in the likes of Oceans's Eleven (or Twelve, or Thirteen), he is making pretty good films about some quite serious and profound subjects (Syriana; Good Night, and Good Luck; Michael Clayton).
- Ocean's Thirteen
- Release: 2007
- Country: USA
- Cert (UK): PG
- Runtime: 122 mins
- Directors: Steven Soderbergh
- Cast: Al Pacino, Bernie Mac, Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Don Cheadle, Ellen Barkin, Elliott Gould, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Scott Caan
Plus, he cares about things: he is a United Nations Messenger of Peace. He supports Barack Obama. He hates the National Rifle Association. He drives a hybrid. He gave $1m for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. He has addressed G8 summits on Aids and the UN about Darfur, in whose name he has travelled to China, Egypt, Chad and Sudan, and he has co-founded his own charity, with Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and others. (OK, the mission of Not On Our Watch - to "put an end to mass atrocities around the world" by "drawing on the powerful voice of citizen artists, activists and cultural leaders" - may be a tad portentous, but then it is American.)
So we are not knocking what George is, or even what he does; it's difficult to argue with his causes. But we may be getting fed up with what he says. The line between sensitive, sincere and sensible, and sanctimonious, smug and self-satisfied is a thin one, and Clooney is increasingly in danger of crossing it. Some feel he has already done so; the creators of South Park penned an entire episode, Smug Alert, in response to an undeniably cringeworthy 2006 Oscar acceptance speech in which the actor hailed Hollywood's efforts to rid the world of Aids and racism.
Now Tinseltown's two main actors' unions are split over a new deal with the studios, and who steps up to mediate? "I've been very lucky in my career," Clooney observed modestly in an open letter. "I don't need a union. That means it's my responsibility to look out for actors who are trying to stay afloat from year to year. Anything less is irresponsible of me." He's right, basically. But does he really need to sound so exceedingly pleased with himself? George: shush.
