n his new film, The Midnight Sky, George Clooney plays Augustine, a misanthropic, star-gazing scientist, alone in a remote Arctic outpost in the wake of an apocalyptic global catastrophe. He has a white beard, close-cropped hair and wears a beanie. The Lily Brooks-Dalton novel on which the film is based describes Augustine as a 78-year-old man “on the rind of civilisation” who feels no love for humanity. Only the cosmos inspires any real emotion in him. He has no company other than a little girl left behind. Romeo or Cary Grant he is not.
Clooney doesn’t just star in The Midnight Sky (out on Netflix next month). It is also his seventh feature film as a director – and yet another opportunity to prove that he actually has a distinctive vision behind the camera.
The actor is one of the most popular male stars of his era: charming, debonair, socially and politically conscientious. However, his status as a filmmaker is far less assured. He may have won an Oscar as a producer for Argo (2012) but critics are still hard-pressed to spot a consistent style or shared themes in his directorial work. The movies he has made are a very mixed bag. As yet, he hasn’t emulated actors like Clint Eastwood or Greta Gerwig, who are as acclaimed for their work behind the camera as in front of it.
