Michael Clayton: DVD, HD DVD, Blu-ray Review (2008)

Though its title hardly screams "cerebral thriller," here's the thing--since not much about this tightly wound thriller plays by the rules, why should the title follow suit?

In an Academy Award-nominated performance is George Clooney as Michael Clayton, a corporate lawyer and "fixer" for a New York law firm who is charged to deal with the firm's chief litigator, a manic depressive named Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), when the man goes off his meds and loses it.

The reason? Edens has learned via a private memorandum that U/North, the company he's protecting from a $3 billion class action lawsuit, knowingly distributed a product that has killed hundreds. By defending them, Edens essentially is throwing dirt on the graves of all those who died.

Now, Clayton finds himself taking on U/North's formidable attorney Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton), who has plenty to lose herself should that memorandum go public.

Her character is one of the movie's harshest, most pointed jabs at corporate America--as cool as she can be, the woman is a fraud.

As Clayton comes to see through her (Swinton is so good in this movie, she also is up for an Academy Award), the film begins its slow burn, with all of its fractured elements falling into place and Clooney delivering a performance that demands what only a few in the industry can deliver--a critical, grounded turn that allows the film to savor its well-earned commercial overtones.

Rated R. Grade: A-

Read the full, unedited review here.

View the trailer below: