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| Michael Clayton | 
| Category: Movie
This item is no longer available
Avg. Customer Rating:  215 reviews
Sales Rank: 1520
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: Video On Demand
Running Time: 120 minutes
ASIN: B0014B8KSI
Theatrical Release Date: October 12, 2007
Release Date: August 29, 2008
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| Customer Reviews:
 Another superlative Clooney performance....possible spoilers.... February 14, 2008
This is a good, though not great film. Its plot is rather predictable (especially the ending), the dialogue is OK, and the supporting characters (especially Tilda's Swinton character) are terribly under written. But, on the good side, the film is worth seeing for George Clooney. He gives a wonderful performance here. He's good in everything he's done (even in the awful Batman and Robin). Clooney, I think, is very underrated as an artist/actor. I think he's the best, or at least one of the best, actors working in Hollywood today. He's got the "movie star" down pat, but he's actually a great actor. He wouldn't have been out of place in old Hollywood, he's that good.
As for the film, the central idea of a "cleaner" like Michael Clayton is fascinating. It's a shame that the film really doesn't jump into more ambiguous territory. The movies goes the usual evil corporation route vs. a corporate guy who doesn't want to take it anymore. It's an entertaining film, never boring, but it just skims the surface in a rather predictable fashion. Sydney Pollack gives another good performance, but I was really disappointed in Tilda Swinton's performance. She simply wasn't given anything to do. She's a great actress, but her role is so simplistically written that even she can't bring anything to it. I was very surprised when she won Best Supporting Actress. So, the film is worth a rent, sure. But it's not a masterpiece by any means.
 Too Sketchy and Pretentious February 11, 2008
6 out of 30 found this review helpful
I found this movie very boring and pretentious. On one extreme are grossout teenage movies and on the other extreme are the "intellectual" movies like this. I rather stay away from both extremes. Storyline was very hard to follow... there were too many side characters... too many distracting/confusing scenes. I still cannot figure out why would a person go out of his way to trespass someone's property to be near 3 ordinary horses? May be this movie was made for movie critices (who must gush over such highbrow movies) and not for general audience.
 Corporate Fixer Discovers Unpleasant Truths February 9, 2008
George Clooney is a genuine movie star. He commands the screen, he attracts audiences, he chooses his film projects carefully, and he is incredibly good-looking. When you toss in the fact that he's a fine actor, the combination of talent, looks, and charisma become a powerful force.
Nowhere is this more in evidence than in his new film, "Michael Clayton," a movie that is so well conceived and so well acted that it practically jumps off the screen. Few movies achieve this level of craftsmanship. The script is truly a finished product rather than a draft that should have gone back for rewrites.
Michael Clayton (Clooney) is a lawyer at Kenner-Bach, one of New York's largest and most prestigious law firms. But he doesn't litigate or engage in other traditional lawyer activities. He is too valuable as a "fixer," a role Clayton has been assigned by the firm's co-founder, Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack). Clayton is the go-to guy when embarrassing incidents involving staff members have to be covered up, bribes and payoffs must be made, or anything involving corporate profits pops up. The divorced, burned-out Clayton is unhappy with his job, has a failed side business, and has built up a huge gambling debt. Financially crippled, he can't walk away from a job he's come to hate.
At the U/North corporation, the career of litigator Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton) relies on the multi-million dollar settlement of a class action suit being handled by Clayton's firm. All appears to be moving to a successful conclusion until Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), Kenner-Bach's star attorney, sabotages the case. Clayton is called in to bring the erratic Edens under control before the entire case is irrevocably undermined.
Wilkinson has a field day as Edens. Whether he's having a tantrum in a board room, striding down the street with a dozen loaves of Italian bread under his arm, or explaining to Clayton in legalese why it would be nearly impossible to have him committed to a mental institution, he simultaneously conveys exasperation, guilt, cunning, and authority. Wilkinson's precisely modulated performance is one of the movie's joys.
Writer/director Tony Gilroy has done a masterful job at centering Clooney in an intriguing tale of morally crippled corporate cutthroat politics while anchoring us to the personal story of Clayton as he first coolly observes the mess created by an apparent nervous breakdown of his firm's top lawyer, but ultimately sees the man's actions as entirely clearheaded and sound. We get to see Clayton change from a disgruntled, though highly efficient, guy who does the dirty work to a man with a conscience. Never preachy, always riveting, the script explores all facets of Clayton's life, explaining how his weakness for gambling and his desire to create financial security for himself have left him at a depressing low. Clooney keeps us in his corner, even though his Clayton is no traditional hero.
Swinton is excellent as attorney Crowder, whose future rests on her success on the case. Director Gilroy shows us her at home, facing the mirror, rehearsing not only the precise wording of her presentations, but their cadence as well. She won't leave any detail to chance. Swinton, seen previously as the White Witch in "The Chronicles of Narnia," is letter-perfect as an icy professional who will employ all resources to win. We never see her in private life, except for those moments in front of the mirror. Her life is work, and excelling is her agenda. Little else matters.
Sydney Pollack is also perfect as Marty Bach. A friend to Clayton, he also knows how to tighten the screws, and he does this not with histrionics, but with soft-spoken, carefully chosen words. This is a man who doesn't have to shout. He's used to wielding power, and understands people often better than they do themselves. Marty never panics when things get sticky for the firm. He knows how to make bad things disappear, and Michael Clayton is the means. Pollack has a completely natural delivery, which comes with his years as feature film director working with such stars as Barbra Streisand, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Al Pacino, and Tom Cruise, among others. He is immediately believable, particularly as a powerful man. The role of Marty Bach fits him well.
The film is a bit slow early on, where John Gilroy's editing could be tighter. Overall, however, "Michael Clayton" is engaging and quite a ride. It allows the viewer to eavesdrop on the inner workings of a big-money company, showing that a company with warts has on staff a guy who can surgically remove them before they fester.
Rated R, "Michael Clayton" is top-form movie making. Clooney is at his best -- perhaps his best screen work ever -- and the excellent supporting cast and clever, literate, script add up to two hours of solid entertainment.
Cut Rate John Grisham Rip Off February 7, 2008
0 out of 18 found this review helpful
"Michael Clayton" is a message movie without a message. The plot is cookie cutter John Grisham style legal melodrama. (Apparently the Producers didn't want to pay for the pricey rights to a Grisham novel. And face it, Grisham ain't no Hemingway to begin with.) George Clooney once again proves he can play George Clooney better than any other actor in Hollywood. Every twist and turn of the plot (and there aren't many) is utterly prdictable. Tilda Swinton, who is a wonderful actress (Try watching her is the far superior thriller "The Deep End".) is totally wasted in the one dimensional role of a big corporate baddie. And (surprise!) Clooney is the somewhat tarnished but ultimately still white knight who must vanquish her and the big, bad corporation. Tom Wilkinson over acts wildly as Clooney's mentor, gone looney due to his moral transgressions in service of an evil law firm. If all of this sounds very familiar, that is because you've seen it all before. Several times in fact. No originality here, just a cliche fest pandering to lovers of Saint George and the evil system he must overcome--whilst still enjoying all the status, money, and power conferred on him by capitalism. Your Average Joe can leave the theatre with the comforting thought that no matter how corrupt corporate America is, there is always a good guy like George Clooney within the organization to put things right. Talk about pipe dreams!
I am a janitor February 6, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Tony Gilroy (the screenwriter of all three Bourne films) makes his directorial debut with Michael Clayton. It is a true masterpiece that elevates itself from the common lawyer/thriller genre into a classic.
George Clooney plays Michael Clayton, a burned out lawyer working for a respected law firm. He does not have a glamorous job. He is in his own words "a janitor". He cleans up messes of cases and runs around reassuring clients that their money has been spent wisely. He is also in debt, divorced, and has a gambling addiction. Michael is assigned to fix the situation of a defense lawyer, Arthur Eden (played by Tom Wilkinson), he knows, is arrested for streaking. Arthur has been working six years on a defense for a multi-billion dollar corporation, uNorth. One of Michael's duties include controlling the manic depressant Arthur as well as reassuring a uNorth corporate employee that everything is under control and that uNorth's $9 million worth of legal fees will not go to waste. Michael attempts to reason with Arthur to finish working on the defense, despite Arthur's protests regarding evidence that uNorth's products have and are killing people.
One thing, among many, that make this film so good is that it does not rely on conventional thrills with car chases, shootouts, or dramatic courtroom showdowns; but has it's own unique atmospheric intensity to it that pulls you in from the opening sequence.
The cast is a major driving force of the film. Every character is so well casted and acted. George Clooney delivers another powerful performance, Tom Wilkinson plays the manic depressant with a passionate vigor, and Tilda Swinton gives an astonishing performance as the corporate member dealing with insecurities but desperately trying to hide and control them.
The entire production of the film is so well done. The sharp, sophisticated script is remarkable, and filled with so many great lines. This is a moving, exceptional lawyer film pulsing with a brooding intensity.
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