Review of Michael Clayton (2007) by Mariana M — 23 Jan 2013

Michael Clayton is an ex-ADA who now works as a fixer for a corporate law firm. When his old friend and mentor seemingly has a psychological break while defending another corporate giant he is called in to "handle" the situation.

I must admit that this film had me hooked right from the incredibly intense monologue from Tom Wilkinson that opens the film. It plays out like a corporate Cold War film; the fact is that the plot will be very familiar to anyone who has seen a few legal dramas and the conclusion has a definite air of inevitability about it.

But it's the journey there that makes it so worthwhile. Wilkinson is superb as the corporate slave who has a life changing catharsis, as is Clooney as the complex and morally ambiguous Clayton and Tilda Swinton as the immoral but anxiety riddled executive.

It has no pointless action sequences and no gimmicks or twists; it's simply an very well written, extremely well acted and attractively and intelligently directed film full of interesting characters and excellent dialogue.

Even the portrayal of Clayton's homelife, which is usually cinematic poison is realistic and unsentimental. Very much in the tradition of the likes of All The President's Men, Michael Clayton is the best straightforward and unpretentious low-key thriller I've seen in recent years.