Given the poor-ish box office of screenwriter Tony Gilroy’s directorial debut, Michael Clayton (the film, as of the past weekend, had grossed less than $30 million since opening four weeks ago), I shan’t go into too much detail about it since you probably won’t watch it anyway.
In the film, George Clooney plays the titular role, a former criminal prosecutor-turned-in-house “fixer” at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York. He is what he calls “a janitor.”Michael Clayton’s quite efficient at what he does, but his personal life could use some tidying up. He’s divorced, a failed restaurateur, and he has a gambling problem – yet he’s still good, you know. And although he’s done with the firm and wants out, he just can’t up and quit.
When the firm’s brilliant and guilt-ridden attorney Arthur Edens (a manic Tom Wilkinson) unravels at a deposition (he strips down naked) and threatens to sabotage the defense of its biggest client, U/North, a corporation being class-action sued for poisonous pollution (he already has approached one of the plaintiffs), Clayton’s called to sweep in and clean up the mess.
Not only will he have to contend with Edens’ revelations, he also will have to watch out for U/North’s chief legal executive, Karen Crowder (the fantastic Tilda Swinton), a woman desperate to be appreciated.
Michael Clayton is an astute film that will hold the interest of anyone who watches it.
It is a grown-up film, one that perhaps takes too long to get to where it wants to go, but it’s a gripping one nevertheless.
The stakes are staggering in this film, and it is just a thrill to see Sexiest Man Alive Clooney realize that little by little, and then…. Well, that would be telling, wouldn’t it be. The end is so gratifying; you’re just going to have to sit through Michael Clayton like I did to find out how it all turns out. It’ll be worth it.
My Rating ***1/2
Photo: Warner Bros.
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