Michael Clayton
Rated: R
Runtime: 2 hours, 2 minutes
Directed by: Tony Gilroy
Starring:
George Clooney - Michael Clayton
Tom Wilkinson - Arthur Edens
Tilda Swinton - Karen Crowder
Sydney Pollack - Marty Bach
If you can use the phrase "patina of shit" in the first five minutes of your movie, you've got my attention for the next two hours. Thankfully, the directorial debut of writer Tony Gilroy doesn't just come out the door with guns blazing only to lay dead for the next hour and fifty-five minutes. Michael Clayton is a fascinating moral drama wrapped in a legal thriller and anchored by terrific performances.
Michael Clayton is a self-proclaimed janitor. He may wear a suit, work for one of the most powerful law firms in the world, and look like George Clooney, but he knows that the sad truth of his job is that he cleans up the powerful messes of powerful people. However, when his friend and fellow "janitor" Arthur apparently has a psychotic break-down, Clayton finds himself trying to save the firm, save his friend, and as the lies and deceit of the case that drove Arthur to madness become evident, save himself.
What makes Michael Clayton so successful as a legal thriller is that it doesn't get bogged down in the law. It doesn't delve into the tired questions of how lawyers who are good people can serve the interests of bad people (for this, see TV's The Practice). Nor does it paint a world where lawyers and their clients engage in acts so ludicrous that thematic issues have no gravity because they exist in a grotesque imitation of life (for this, see TV's Damages). The film bumps up against these extremes, but Gilroy skillfully threads the needle of his story as he explores notions of damnation and redemption beyond the structure of the American legal system.
Both the direction and the film's superb editing make for a solid film but it's the performances of Clooney and especially the supporting work of Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton that breathe life into the film and make this moral study rich with personality and character as opposed to a sterile examination.
Gilroy has done some stellar writing in recent years with the Bourne films but Michael Clayton makes him a director to watch and Wilkinson and Swinton deserve Oscar nominations for turning in two of the year's best supporting performances.
Words by
Matt Goldberg
9.23.07