Clooney's finally got the box-office clout he deserves, but he's
trying too hard to convince us he's a great actor as well as a star. His
mannered, over-eager turn in O Brother, Where Art Thou? was a step back
from robust, but subtly troubled work in Out Of Sight, Three Kings and
The Perfect Storm. It took Soderbergh to ween him off the over-familiar
tics of his ER days, which an unhappy transfer to the big screen had only
made worse. They're in danger of coming back, unless he realises what we
already know – less Clooney is more Clooney.
