Daily Blog – John E. Johnson, Jr. – February 25, 2008: MICHAEL CLAYTON, ANOTHER WEAK ENDING.

No Country for Old Men picked up the Oscar for Best Picture, in spite of my condemnation for that terrible ending. So be it. I guess the Academy was not impressed with my opinion.

We watched Michael Clayton last night, while the Academy Award Ceremony was being televised.

For crying out loud, another bad ending. This time it was satsifying, but just weakly done. No cleverness. Nothing like the “Gotcha” kind of endings we used to see in the old Columbo TV series (starring Peter Falk).

What is it with these storytellers? It’s like, “OK guys, I am tired. Let’s get this story over with.”

I have noticed the same thing lately in some novels. Great beginning (they have to do that because we browse books by looking at the first few pages), pretty good in the middle, then “Thud” at the end.

C’mon. Put a little more energy into the finale. Leave us with our hands clapping.