Review of Michael Clayton (2007) by Danijel J — 21 Nov 2011

Don't let the title fool you. Michael Clayton is the main character in this one, but this is not a story about just one guy. It is a story of a way of life in high offices, a way of life which is so cruel and unmercifully immoral that it will undoubtedly leave you soulless if you live it long enough. It is a great film.

Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is a fixer for an internationally renowned law firm. He was an Assistant D.A. once, but apparently discovered this job suited him better. His work basically consists of being called every time some big shot is in trouble and finding a safest and fastest way to help them. His latest task is to leash one of firm's senior partners Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson) who had a sudden attack of conscience and it is ready to destroy a multimillion dollar deal. Of that deal depends a future merger of Clayton's firm with another hundred headed monster called U-North, lead by general counsel Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton in an Oscar winning performance).

Basically, what we have here are characters on the way to ruin. Neither of them is genuinely happy, and when one finally realizes the situation he is in, the avalanche starts and there is no way of stopping it. Arthur's decision to finally do the right thing determines the faith of the others, especially Michaels. His task is the easiest, to learn from other peoples mistakes and achieve salvation they can`t. This makes Michael Clayton a movie about redemption, one of the most effective of all movie subjects.

All of the performances here are incredible. Clayton is probably the most complex role Clooney has ever played and he proves once again how mature of an actor he is by not pushing the character that was so well written.

Tom Wilkinson's role is perhaps the trickiest. He could easily fall in the trap of overacting like many actors in these kinds of roles, but he does not do that. He gives his character just enough amount of craziness, so that we can understand what he is going through, but also leaves room for compassion. And Swinton plays the role of a career driven women with ease and authority expected from one of the best actresses around (though I still believe Blanchett deserved the Oscar that year).

Michael Clayton was written and directed by Tony Gilroy and it was something I really didn't expect from a writer of entertaining but pretty shallow Bourne movies. It was one of those situations where you just wait for him to make a mistake, sell out and use his characters for plot purposes and than feel real amazement when that doesn't happen. It was obvious that he had a clear plan from the beginning and remained true to it in the execution.

I have seen Michael Clayton two times so far, and I am definitely going to see it again eventually. It is a perfect example for us, people in Europe who love movies, that big budget, star filled Hollywood film doesn't automatically have to mean absence of brain.