Michael Clayton is an intelligent thriller that takes time to explore little crevices of character along the way ...
Michael Clayton (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:189
Fresh:170
Rotten:19
Average Rating:7.6/10
Consensus: Michael Clayton is one of the most sharply scripted films of 2007, with an engrossing premise and faultless acting. Director Tony Gilroy succeeds not only in capturing the audience's attention, but holding it until the credits roll.
Runtime: 2 hrs
Genre: Law/Lawyers, Thriller, Mental Illness, Divorce, Theatrical Release
US Box Office: $48,976,323
Synopsis: Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is what is known in the legal world as a "fixer," or in the character's own pejorative version, a "janitor" who cleans up legal messes for VIPs and corporations on... Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is what is known in the legal world as a "fixer," or in the character's own pejorative version, a "janitor" who cleans up legal messes for VIPs and corporations on behalf of a prestigious New York City law firm. A former litigator, Clayton has found a niche that capitalizes on his legal acumen and shrewd people skills, and yet, after 13 years on the job, finds himself increasingly disgusted with his clientele. The film covers four pivotal days of his life, in which a midlife crisis and a crisis of conscience neatly converge when he is called in to "fix" a situation unfolding in one of his firm's hottest cases. Brilliant lawyer Arthur Edens (another powerhouse performance by Tom Wilkinson), representing a huge agro-chemical corporation being hit by a class action suit, has a bipolar breakdown, compounded by guilt over his defense of a company that is probably in the wrong, but is wealthy enough to buy its innocence either way. The company's CEO (Tilda Swinton) will stop at nothing to keep Edens from sinking the case. Clayton must decide how much of Edens's mad rebellion against the company is sheer mental illness, how much is true, and how much it will cost him to do the right thing. Clooney delivers a rich performance as a hangdog and haunted man who wants to stay on the side of good, but is a little too skilled at moral margin-walking to make that an easy choice in every situation. Swinton glows as a secretly frail Amazon who somehow won't let a tortured conscience prevent her from getting ahead. The final third of the film is as suspenseful as any courtroom drama, without ever resorting to legal-thriller cliches. [More]
Starring: George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, Sydney Pollack
Starring: George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, Sydney Pollack
Director: Tony Gilroy
Director: Tony Gilroy
Screenwriter: Tony Gilroy
Producer: Sydney Pollack, Jennifer Fox, Steve Samuels, Kerry Orent
Composer: James Newton Howard
Studio: Warner Bros.
Reviews for Michael Clayton
There are no real surprises in Michael Clayton, just the awareness of a job well done.
It’s The Insider remade and rechristened with all the coiled, white-hot intensity of a crime thriller like Heat.
An engrossing intellectual thriller with a shrewd grasp of crowd-pleasing storytelling ... the kind of Hollywood movie we could use a lot more of.
Full of plausible characters who are capable of surprising — and surpassing — your expectations.
A resonant throwback with deep roots to the political thrillers of the 1970s; slick, smart and saturated in dramatic paranoia.
Some might see the dark cinematography, the protagonist pursued by demons, and the slow, wordy, incoherent story-telling as tense. I looked at my watch a lot.
...an intelligent thriller that does not have an axe to grind. Sure, there is the evil corporate entity and its pitiless lawyers but they are relative fodder to feed Michael's story of redemption.
Once the narrative edges toward meeting up with where it began, Michael Clayton becomes riveting stuff all the way until the gratifyingly acidic ending.
A dense trip into the gray areas of the legal world that film fans will go back to again and again like the classics that inspired it. Don't miss it.
With his focused, charismatic manner and a character whose control is challenged by a colleague's principles, Clooney sustains the tension in a case of corporate corruption.
And while Gilroy deploys the occasional exploding car, the film's climax is all words -- angry, carefully sharpened words -- with the stopping power of large-caliber bullets.
While the plot is complex in the telling, it unfolds onscreen with propulsive fascination.
Latest News for Michael Clayton
May 11, 2009:
RT Interview: Tilda Swinton on Julia
One of the most diverse and celebrated talents of her generation, the directors on Tilda Swinton's CV represent a veritable who's who of independent cinema and include David... More...
May 27, 2008:
Sydney Pollack: A Retrospective
With two Oscar wins and plenty more nominations under his belt, Sydney Pollack was a filmmaker that Hollywood admired. He was also a proven actor's director whose fruitful... More...
May 26, 2008:
Sydney Pollack dies aged 73
Academy Award-winning director, producer and actor, Sydney Pollack, dies aged 73. More...
April 11, 2008:
Script Review: Tony Gilroy's Duplicity ![]()
Tony Gilroy's follow-up to Michael Clayton -- the Clive Owen/Julia Roberts-led Duplicity -- is filming now, and Latino Review is offering a review of the script. More...
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