Michael Clayton

I had no expectations about this film at all. The previews I saw held no information about the movie except that it was “the greatest film of the year.” So I was pleasantly surprised to see a cast that I really liked. George Clooney plays the namesake of the film, Michael Clayton. Backing him up are Tom Wilkinson as Arthur Edens, the head attorney defending a chemical company, and Tilda Swinton as Karen Chowder, the head litigator of the chemical company, called uNorth.When Arthur goes off his meds Michael Clayton is called in to “fix” the situation. Arthur has decided to side with the plaintiffs and sabotage the case. Karen Chowder is under the gun to save the situation and calls in some “fixers” of her own. Neither party involved is the good guy, so no good comes of it. Michael Clayton knows, and agrees with Arthur, that their hands are dirty. Fair warning that there is not a lot of action, mostly just dialogue (though you do get an explosion). George Clooney gives an absolutely amazing performance. I’m not used to seeing him play this type of character, damaged and unsure and barely holding it together, and he conveys all of this on his face. A barely perceptible lift of his eyebrow tells the viewer that he knows he is being lied to. The film is quiet and not at all flashy, but it is smart and very satisfying. If your taste in movies runs to car chases or hand to hand combat, then this isn’t for you. However, the verbal sparring is engaging and I found the film to move along quickly. It is a solid two hours, but so much information was going back and forth that I never noticed. This is definitely worth the time to go out and see, but would be just as good on DVD.