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highly recommended |
Smart, well-acted legal thriller 
A "thriller" need not be breathlessly paced or hyper-kinetically edited. It need not be graphically violent or sprinkled with sex. A good thriller can be intelligent and embrace the virtues of character and context and still deliver the goods before the credits roll. If you doubt it, go see Michael Clayton.
A legal thriller by definition is usually more intelligent than other commercial film genres, but Tony Gilroy's directorial debut is smarter than most. Working from his own script, he fashions a story that moves slowly and carefully along its path, observing great detail and giving all of the characters room to breathe. The title character in particular, (George Clooney in fine form) fully inhabits the space around him, living a life recognizable to the audience, not lost in the mysterious parallel universe that most Hollywood thrillers occupy. He is a lawyer working for a big law firm, but instead of a superstar trial lawyer, he is the firm's "fixer", cleaning up untidy messes for important clients and the big names who he works for. The job has worn him down so that his ideals and ambition have long been discarded and weariness has overtaken him. Clooney's performance beautifully captures all of this in solid, unshowy fashion.
At times you may wonder if the movie is losing its way, so unhurried is its attitude, but then it turns a corner and regains its focus and suddenly this quiet, meandering story hones in and develops real suspense and a solid payoff that is earned and not contrived. The seeming inattention to genre conventions has kept the audience off-balance just enough to make the final scene more satisfying than one was expecting.
Tom Wilkinson and Sydney Pollack contribute solid supporting work, but Tilda Swinton provides ample evidence why she is among the finest actors in film today in her portrait of a corporate lawyer struggling to keep up with the moral quicksand in which she is mired. It is fascinating performance of a modern-day monster, all the more effective for the plain, unglamorous look she gives the character.
Great movie. Great actors. Rent or buy it. 
Clooney is great and has many amazing co stars. Great story that compares to what is happening in the world today. Rent or buy today.
Miracles happen
I expected little. The plot outlines are rather tired: how often did we have this story of the bad big corporation and the class action suit and then Erin Brockovich fighting for the little man? I am not saying it is unreal or wrong, but it is used up.
And how often did we have the hero with his head barely above the waterline, with problems of family, gambling, career, debts... Who suddenly finds himself in the position to do good? or something resembling it? And who does become a hero against the odds?
Not much to expect there. And then, there is Clooney pulling it off. The man is amazing. And he gets great support from Wilkinson and Swinton and together they produce an admittedly slow but always gripping plot.
Say, why not Clooney for President? If you can't make up your mind between race and gender, why not settle for an improved version of a Hollywood actor? You were so taken in by the last one, Clooney would be better.
reviews: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, page 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
michael clayton, clayton, michael
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