The Evolution Of George Clooney

Return Of The Killer Tomatoes! (1988)

Released 10 years after its prequel ( Attack of the Killer Tomatoes ), ROTKT features a villain who wants to take over the world.

Unconventionally, he chooses to amass an army made up exclusively of humans who were once tomatoes. He dips them in some sort of matter and they come to life. Sure, OK.

The Role: Clooney's Matt is a guy who wants to pick up chicks. He does so by creating a fake contest to "win a date with Rob Lowe".

The Charm: His crafty scheme works, but we're pretty sure "win a date with George Clooney" would do the trick.

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

F DTD was Clooney's first film as a big TV star.

After first appearing in ER in 1994 as Dr. Doug Ross, Clooney's screen status rocketed and he bagged the starring role in Rodriguez and Tarantino's fugitive movie / bizarre vampire sex festival.

The Role: Seth Gecko is just an ordinary criminal, desperate to shake off the law and find sanctuary in Mexico.

That is, until he finds out that Mexico's a vampy hot-bed.

The Charm: Who needs charm when you've got a cool tattoo?

(He has got the charm, too, though. Bags of it.)

Batman & Robin (1997)

Directed by Joel Schumacher, Batman & Robin was so camp that Bats actually had little pointy nipple bits on his suit.

It also featured the most infuriatingly terrible script.

Yes, we are referring to Schwarzenegger's Mr Freeze, and his godawful quips. "Ice to see you!"

Oh no.

The Role: Clooney kapow -ed his way to justice as the caped crusader himself.

The Charm: He may be wearing a mask, but you can still see that smirk.

The Peacemaker (1997)

With a plot involving nuclear weapons, terrorists, train crashes and conspiracy, The Peacemaker has everything you need for a ruddy bloody good thriller.

Not surprising, as it was the first film ever relased by DreamWorks, the fledgeling vehicle created by Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg. Them's some good movie minds at work.

The Role: As Lt. Col. Thomas Devoe, Clooney runs around with a gun, smooth-talking his way out of some situations and shooting his way out of others.

The Charm: Kidman's brainy Dr. Kelly provides quite a challenge for Devoe. A challenge he rises to. Monumentally.

Three Kings (1999)

Three Kings is a tale of individuals making big moral decisions in post Gulf War Iraq. Unfortunately it's not 'post' enough to be 'safe'.

A group of soldiers are on a mission to recover gold which was stolen from Kuwait by the Iraqis.

On their quest to find the gold, however, they are caught up in another drama which requires them to rise to some mighty tough challenges.

The Role: Archie Gates is the Major who's disenchanted with conflict and wants to give up and go home. Yeah, he's a quitter.

The Charm: He's saving peoples' lives . And he doesn't have to, he chooses to. We're charmed.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

The plot's based on Homer's epic Odyssey, though you'd be forgiven for forgetting that, as they don't dwell too much on the fine details.

O Brother follows the plight of three escaped convicts blundering across Mississippi, trying to make their way back to Ulysses (Clooney)'s place, where he's stashed their loot.

The Role: Ulysses Everett McGill is the leader of the gang, as he's the sharpest tool in the box. All the other tools appear to be made from soap.

The Charm: We don't know if it's charm or sheer dumb luck, but Ulysses manages to worm his way out of some tight spots.

Actually, who are we kidding, it's all in the eye-twinkle.

The Perfect Storm (2000)

This film is a lesson on what happens when you ignore severe storm warnings.

A group of fishermen head out to sea and get trapped in a ridiculously scary storm, with waves as big as mountains. There's nothing they can do except ride it out.

The Role: Clooney's Billy Tyne is the captain - the one who got them all out there in the first place.

However, he's suffered from a terrible fishing season and has kids to support. So we can kind of forgive him for being an idiot.

The Charm: There's no room for charm in this testosterone fest. You can't charm a killer wave.

Ocean's Eleven (2001), Twelve (2004), & Thirteen (2007)

The Ocean's franchise hit the ground running in 2001, with an incredible ensemble cast including Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Julia Roberts.

A re-make of the Rat Pack classic, Ocean's Eleven was slick and chic, and made crime look good .

Its success spurred a further two heists. Long live Danny Ocean!

The Role: Clooney was the eponymous Ocean, leader of the pack. He is the epitome of cool.

The Charm: He's one smooth operator.

He talks Julia Roberts right out of the arms of her billionaire lover. Only after he's acquired all his dosh, though.

Welcome To Collinwood (2002)

One of the first films Clooney produced, Welcome To Collinwood features five hapless small-time crooks and their attempt at the 'perfect heist'.

They try to burgle a pawn-broker's safe, but everything that could go wrong, does.

The Role: Clooney's got a titchy part in this, but it's hilarious nonetheless. He's a criminal skilled in cracking open safes, among other things.

The Charm: He's still sexy even when doing his rabbi impersonation. It's pure gold.

Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind (2002)

In 2002, Clooney first took a seat in the director's chair with COADM . Luckily for him, he had a Charlie Kaufman screenplay to work with, and a cast including Sam Rockwell and Drew Barrymore.

The film is a sort-of biography of Chuck Barris, an American game show host. It's fairly surreal, and although it plummeted at the box office, this was mainly due to the fact that its release date tied in with that of The Two Towers . Damn you, hobbits!

The Role: As he was directing, his character, Jim, only gets a few minutes' screen time.

The Charm: Most of his prowess eminates from the Selleck-esque moustache. Just look at it. Magnificent.

Solaris (2002)

Solaris was more psychological thriller than sci-fi. And it is quite a brain squisher.

The film's action takes place some time after the death of Chris (Clooney)'s wife. He's a psychiatrist who's sent into space to help out when some strange things start happening at the space station above a planet called Solaris.

Dead people start appearing. It's quite unnerving.

The Role: Poor Chris Kelvin. He's still grieving and he has to face reincarnations of his wife, again and again. Though that's nice for us, because she is very pretty.

The Charm: He's more pensive than charming, but we'll let him off, because he's having a tough time.

Intolerable Cruelty (2003)

Intolerable Cruelty is a sort of "battle of the sexes", although the battle in question is a legal one, and involves an awfully large amount of money.

There's everything to lose, and everything to gain. Clooney's Miles is a hotshot lawyer, who's up against the fiery Marylin (Catherine Zeta-Jones). She holds her own, and turns out to be a lot more cunning than he gives her credit for.

The Role: Miles has everything, and he's used to getting his own way. He's a brat. A sexy brat.

The Charm: The sexual chemistry between Clooney and Zeta-Jones is sizzling. He'd charm the pants clean off a weaker woman.

Good Night, And Good Luck. (2005)

Written, directed and produced by Clooney, this was a risky venture.

But it paid off. Good Night, And Good Luck was a thoughtful and powerful film which looked at the communist witch-hunts of the McCarthy era, and one TV station's refusal to back down to the bullying.

It also got six Oscar nods. Well done, George!

The Role: Clooney took a bit of a step back from the limelight, playing Fred Friendly, a co-producer of the programme See It Now .

The Charm: Fred Friendly is one of the most charming names we've ever heard. Though here, we mean charming in the old-fashioned way, as one might describe a tea-set or a straw hat.

Syriana (2005)

In a sort of political binge, Clooney's second notable film of 2005 was focussed around the oil industry, and the influence it wields all over the world.

Loosely based on a real ex-CIA agent's memoirs, the film was produced by Clooney.

It was quite a ballsy attack on the US government of the time, and the corruption of oil and power. Good stuff.

The Role: Clooney's Bob Barnes is an undercover CIA operative in Beirut. He's under cover of beard. It's a good beard.

The Charm: Again, he's gone a bit too serious. Where's that smug smile gone, George? The little twinkly eye? We miss it.

The Good German (2006)

A murder mystery with a film noir slant, The Good German centers around the recovery of a corpse in Berlin.

The film was shot in black and white to give it an authentic 1940s feel. Not only that, but period lenses and microphones were used. The acting is decidedly stage-like, too, which is a nice touch.

The Role: Jake is a war correspondent, who travels to (newly) post-war Berlin. Inevitably, he gets tangled up in all the mystery. What did he expect?

The Charm: He's allowed to flex his (polite, 1940s) charm-muscles on Cate Blanchett's world-weary prostitute, Lena.

Michael Clayton (2007)

It's not a title that reaches out and grabs you, but it's worth a watch.

With Michael Clayton , George goes for another politics push. This time, however, he's attacking the corruption of multinational corporations.

Super George. He wheedles out corruption and flogs its bare bottom on the big screen. We like him.

The Role: Clooney is Michael, an attorney who unveils a major cover-up operation.

The Charm: He's charming enough in the concluding scene, though we think this is probably unintentional, as it's unlikely he fancies Tilda Swinton's character. She's horrible.

Leatherheads (2008)

Set in the '20s, Leatherheads follows the trials and tribulations of the Duluth Bulldogs.

Dodge Connolly attempts to dredge his American Football Team out of the bog of deafeat as it faces collapse.

And there's a girl. Sports journalist Lexie (Renee Zellweger) adds a 'rom' to the 'com'.

The Role: Dodge is determined, goshdarnit. And he's not afraid to pull a couple of tricks to get his own way.

The Charm: Clooney is on top form, turning Lexie's knees to jelly with his handsome face and rumbly voice.

Burn After Reading (2008)

This buoyant comedy was quite a departure from the preceding Coen brothers flick, No Country For Old Men - which was mega heavy.

It's good, dark comedy, though. It's all about what happens when "sensitive" CIA material gets into the wrong hands - or, at least, what happens when it gets into the hands of a complete idiot.

The Role: He's an adulterous US Marshal called Harry. He's a bit of a bastard, actually, stringing along a load of women he met on the internet. Pretty much the ultimate sleaze.

The Charm: He manages to charm his way into a lot of women's knickers. He's so naughty.

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

After months of hype, Wes Anderson's Mr. Fox kicked off the London Film Festival last night.

The adaptation of the much-loved Roald Dahl book is the first stop-motion animated picture in 20th Century Fox's history. Seems fitting, really, doesn't it?

With a cast list so stunning it'd be impossible to pick the best of the bunch, and the capable, visionary direction of Wes Anderson, this will film will not disappoint.

The Role: Mr. Fox is always out-smarting farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean. Things get ugly when they get sick of it, and seek revenge.

The Charm: He might be the most roguishly charming Roald Dahl character ever. Magic.