Michael Clayton: Movie Review (2007)

Written and directed by Tony Gilroy, 120 minutes, rated R.

(Originally published 2007)

The new Tony Gilroy movie, "Michael Clayton," suffers from a regrettable title (it hardly screams "cerebral thriller"), but here's the thing--since not much about this tightly wound thriller plays by the rules, why should the title follow suit?

Gilroy wrote every one of the "Bourne" movies and he makes his directorial debut here. What he showcases behind the lens is an assurance that bears to mind the early work of Christopher Nolan, whose "Memento" also dealt with a difficult narrative and which saw through it in ways that made for a challenging movie first, a deeply satisfying movie second.

While "Michael Clayton" isn’t played in reverse as “Memento” was, its storyline nevertheless is dense and fractured. And yet the way it ultimately maneuvers through its narrative makes for one of the year's smarter movies.

George Clooney is Michael Clayton, a corporate lawyer and "fixer" for the New York law firm of Kenner, Bach & Leeden, who is their go-to guy when it comes to freeing the firm's clients out of a pinch. Though he can't solve every problem--he admits he's no miracle worker--Clayton can rub away most "issues" that come his way, with the exception being those mushrooming in his personal life.

Over the course of the movie, we learn that Michael is divorced, that he has gambling and family problems, and that he is in debt to some unseemly types who want their investment money back for a restaurant Michael failed to turn into a succeeds. If they don't see their money soon, Michael will pay his debt in other, less-pleasant ways.

This is the periphery that surrounds "Clayton," darkening its mood while lies and deception rot the core from within. The central story involves the fallout that unravels when the firm's chief litigator, a manic depressive named Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), starts to question his moral involvement in defending a company called U/North from a $3 billion class action lawsuit.

Through a private memorandum, Edens learns that the company knowingly distributed a product that killed hundreds. And by defending them, Edens now knows that he also is throwing dirt on the graves of all those who died. Considering that he's fallen off his meds, it sends him into a massive tailspin, which the gifted Wilkinson makes for something splendid to behold.

Charged by the firm's co-founder Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack, excellent) to clean up the mess, 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. To the high-powered world in which she moves, Crowder is polished to perfection, but one of the film's chief pleasures comes from watching her in private. She's a nervous wreck, constantly rehearsing speeches in ways that reveal what some authority figures don't want you to know--they're way out of their league, they know it, and they hoping like hell that nobody figures it out along the way.

As Clayton comes to see through Crowder, the movie 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.

Grade: A-