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| Michael Clayton | 
| Category: Movie
Buy New: $14.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  203 reviews
Sales Rank: 3579
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: Video On Demand
Running Time: 120 minutes
ASIN: B00149KENO
Theatrical Release Date: October 12, 2007
Release Date: August 29, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 A little Over rated May 31, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
After hearing so much buzz about the movie, I finally sat down and watched it. It was decent, but not nearly as good as I would have hoped. This is one of those movies I watched, kinda shrug at the end and then never watch again. The story is okay, though I have seen it before in various degrees in other films. The acting is good. The directions is a bit on the slow side. It takes forever for the payoff, and the payoff is not really worth the wait. I would rent this before considering purchasing.
A real-world "legal thriller" with mesmerizing characters May 28, 2008
Michael Clayton is an ex-criminal lawyer who apparently burned himself out as a prosecutor a decade and a half ago and then went to work for a large Manhattan firm, where he has settled into an uncomfortable, frequently unpleasant niche as the firm's "fixer" -- what he refers to as a "janitor," cleaning up other people's messes. You want a congressman bought, a hit-and-run handled, a green card obtained, you go see him. The firm has been involved for years in a class action suit in which U-North, a huge agribusiness corporation, is accused of killing off a couple of hundred small farm operators with carcinogenic chemicals, and it's all coming down to the wire when the lead attorney, a manic depressive, goes off his meds and publicly off his nut, and then begins making the case for the other side. U-North can't have that, especially since there's a highly incriminating memo floating around. Karen Crowder, the new corporate counsel, anxious for a win to kick off her career, can only think of one way to handle the situation. What's a murder or two compared to a $3 billion lawsuit, right? The story starts in media res and it takes a little while to figure out just what's going on -- just like real life -- but it will suck you right in in very short order. The characterization is multidimensional, the numerous subplots and bits of business are beautifully woven into the main action, and the dialogue is extremely good. This dark and thoroughly gritty film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay, but the only winner was Tilda Swinton as the amoral Crowder. This is George Clooney's best serious work in a long time.
 boo hoo May 25, 2008
1 out of 13 found this review helpful
I have this movie running now, wife has got up and left the room,$5, we could have bought gas with. Soon as I get up I will shut it off, Pollack must be losing it to be in this dead end boring movie.
Slow but good May 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I really enjoyed this movie, especially the insane acting of Tom Wilkinson which was very intense and strange yet also very believable. I must give a warning to anyone planning on watching this though...it is a very slow paced movie without a lot of action. It may have been directed by the same guy who did the Bourne Trilogy, but this is nothing like those movies..though it does have a car chase and a couple of explosions...sorta...if you tend to fall asleep during movies then make sure you watch this with a friend who will keep you awake.
If your looking for a good legal drama, check this one out...if you want action and gun fights and a huge body count...skip it...
 So What Do You Think Of Your Brown-eyed Boy Now, Mr. O'Reilly? May 17, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
George Clooney leads an outstanding cast-- Tom Wilkinson, Sydney Pollack, Tilda Swinton who won an Oscar for her performance, Michael O'Keefe et al.-- in Director Tony Gilroy's first movie "Michael Clayton." Clooney is an attorney in a huge law firm who never goes to court. His job is as a janitor who cleans up everybody else's messes. And the mess in this movie-- at least one of them-- is that the lead attorney Arthur (Wilkinson), who is defending a three billion class action lawsuit, appears to have gone bananas in a deposition and removed all his clothes except his shoes and socks.
The plot is complex and not for the lazy so it is probably better appreciated in the luxury of your own home away from a theatre overrun with talkers and cell phones. There are several threads woven into the plot. Clayton (Clooney) has both family problems and money problems of his own that he has to "clean up," along with his janitorial duties at work. (The kid who plays Clayton's son, by the way, almost steals the movie away from Clooney.)
The DVD version permits the viewer to watch this film in its entirety with the director's comments in a voice-over. After listening to about ten minutes or so of Gilroy's remarks and he was still informing us of how he came to make this film, blah, blah, blah, I decided I had heard enough. Listening to directors expound on their films is 99 times out of 100 a waste of one's precious life.
As I watched this fine performance by Mr. Clooney, I remembered an article I read a couple of years or so ago when Bill O'Reilly opined that Clooney's left-leaning political views would sound the death knell of his acting career. What do you think of your brown-eyed boy now, Mr. O'Reilly?
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