The dark underbelly of the legal world: Michael Clayton
Written: Feb 20 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Acting, plot, and dialogue.
Cons: A little hard to follow at times.
The Bottom Line: Michael Clayton is a thought-provoking legal drama with good acting and a good plot.
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| trailhound's Full Review: Michael Clayton |
Michael Clayton may be classified as a legal thriller film or perhaps a legal drama, but it is very different from some of the wildly popular films in this category such as The Firm or Erin Brockovitch. What's unfortunate is that this film is much better than those movies but did not attract nearly as big of an audience. But perhaps this film will make-up for its shortfall at the box office with Academy Awards, of which it has seven nominations.
In this film George Clooney portrays lawyer Michael Clayton, who has a unique position within his firm. He gets clients out of embarrassing legal jams, which often occur at very inconvenient times of the day and under embarrassing circumstances. Although he is good at his job, he has grown weary of dealing with the dark underbelly of legal woes. However, his messy personal life (gambling debts, divorce, a failed business) help keep his career path in the shadows instead of in the courtroom.
For one of his ''legal fixer'' assignments Clayton must help co-worker Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson) who is the lead litigator in a class-action lawsuit involving client U/North. Arthur had a psychological meltdown in public, which included stripping naked in front of the client. What complicates the case is that the client's top legal council Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton) wants the class-action lawsuit settled, but Clayton is most concerned with the well-being of Arthur.
As the film progresses Arthur's problems deepen and Clayton feels trapped between helping his friend and being pressured from both the client and Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack), who is Clayton's boss and his lone hope for paying off his financial debts. Eventually Clayton must decide between helping friend and co-worker Arthur, or allowing a client paying millions of dollars in legal fees to sweep the lawsuit under the rug.
Michael Clayton is the kind of film that relies on dialogue and relationships amongst the characters to advance the plot. There are not many ''action scenes'', explosions (just one), or special affects. You actually have to watch the film closely to figure out what is going on. While that ultimately makes the film more satisfying, the plot was a bit difficult to follow at times due to flashbacks and the number of characters on screen.
I though the acting in this film was very good. Clooney perfectly captures a rather amoral lawyer who still has a basic consciousness about right and wrong. He shows a broad range of emotions in the film including some tender scenes with his non-custodial son and harshness dealing with corporate legal drones.
His antagonist in the film, Karen Crowder, is convincingly played by Tilda Swinton. She exhibits all the warmth of a cold fish with a single-minded determination to protect the corporation, by whatever means necessary. Tom Wilkinson's role as Arthur was painful to watch because the character he played was so flawed and tragic. But Wilkinson skillfully portrayed a person who was teetering between lucidity and insanity who knew his life was too screwed up to endure much longer.
Overall I though Michael Clayton was a very good film. A backdrop of snowy and cold cityscapes added to the film's drama and the film captured the conflicted emotions of the various characters. This film does not beat you over the head with its message, but instead shows how flawed people can make a critical difference at times, although doing so may require personal anguish. I recommend the film to anyone who likes thoughtful dramas and can tolerate some ambiguous feelings and a plot that is just a tad confusing at times.
© trailhound. 2008.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Serious Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: A few glitches, but mostly complete.
Worst Part of this Film: Duration
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