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George Clooney and ‘Michael Clayton’ are riveting
Michael Clayton may not seem like the most exciting title for a movie, but when the film turned out to be a terrific, gripping drama, I realized that the title was exactly right.
It’s the name of a fixer who gets called in on tough cases to broker deals that save a lot of trouble. Clayton (George Clooney) is determined and good at what he does but even his keen abilities are taxed by a case that turns his life upside down.
Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), a highly respected attorney, has a psychological breakdown and is arrested for public indecency. He had been working to defend a corporation from a class-action lawsuit that claimed its products were harmful, and his arrest threatens to blow the case. However, Clayton learns that Edens may have learned some crucial facts - facts some people will go to deadly lengths to keep secret.
Michael Clayton may not be a colorful name like Forrest Gump or Shaft, but the fact that writer-director Tony Gilroy used it as a title shows had great confidence in his material. A less nervy writer might have given this movie a pulpier name like The Fixer, Rampant Corruption or The Naked Attorney.
However, since the title is Michael Clayton, that means this film concerns itself more with human beings than with conventional thrills and spills. There’s not a lot of action, and viewers with short attention spans may find the movie a little dry at times, but I didn’t. These people and their interactions so fascinating, they provide all the excitement this movie needs.
Clooney turns in an outstanding performance. He’s no stranger to portraying strong-willed men, but Michael Clayton is more layered than most. He exudes confidence at his job, but finds himself drawn to trouble. His family life is in disarray, he’s mired deep in debt through an unwise business venture and he exacerbates the problem by gambling his money away.
So his resolve is tested all the more when he matches wits with Karen Crowder, a litigator for the corporation. She’s played by Tilda Swinton, who turns in one of her best performances as a woman who’s in over her head just as Clayton is, but is less scrupulous about trying to keep it above water. Also strong are Wilkinson as the attorney who’s not as deranged as he seems, and Sydney Pollack as Clayton’s tough-minded, practical boss.
Gilroy, who’s best known these days for writing the Bourne movies, directs these actors and controls the camera with such a sure hand that it’s not a little startling to realize this is his directorial debut. The third act in particular unfolds beautifully. He has said in interviews that his inspiration was Alan J. Pakula’s Klute, and indeed, this film looks very much like something the late Pakula would have directed.
As a tribute to the style of 70s films, Michael Clayton is even more accomplished than David Fincher’s very strong Zodiac, thanks largely to the photography of Robert Elswit, who is becoming a mainstay of Clooney’s movies, having also shot Syriana and Good Night and Good Luck. Elswit perfectly captures the dark, smoky look of films of that era, transplanting it to the present day.
Gilroy’s only misstep is to dwell a little too much on Clayton’s tribulations, making the movie just a touch longer than it should be. That’s more than forgivable when Gilroy has made such an excellent piece of work, and one that’s refreshing for assuming the viewers have brains in their heads. If only Gilroy could fix every movie to be as compelling as this one.
GRADE: A
