I have liked George Clooney for many years and have seen several of his movies, liking most of them. I was interested in seeing his new movie, Michael Clayton, after the first time I saw a preview. I just saw it and believe it is one of the best movies of the year.
Michael Clayton was a lawyer who didn't actually try cases even though he was a former prosecutor. Instead, he cleaned up problems and messes for the clients of the firm he worked for. Michael wasn't really happy with how his career was going and he was having some problems in his personal life. While he was trying to deal with those problems, he was called in to fix a situation with Arthur Edens, the lead litigator in a huge class action law suit. Arthur was defending Unorth, the company involved.
Michael was sent in when Arthur had a melt down during a deposition. Karen Crowder worked for Unorth and seemed to be in charge of making decisions related to what was going on. She was very concerned and made decisions to contain what she considered the problem. Michael was trying to help Arthur and he eventually learned something that put his life in danger.
Michael Clayton was a drama with elements of a thriller. Everything was put together in a way that worked well, making the movie very entertaining and engrossing. It did start off slower as time was taken to introduce Michael and set up the situation. That didn’t bother me, though I was wondering what certain scenes had to do with the over plot at first. Those things did become clearer later in the movie. The movie could move too slow for some people. There was a small amount of action in one or two scenes but the movie isn’t action packed. It wasn’t really suspenseful, but there were one or two surprises that worked very well.
The majority of Michael Clayton revolved around the case that Arthur was working on for Unorth. It was a huge class action suit, involving several hundred defendants. Unorth had been content to let the case drag on for years before Arthur’s episode. After that, it seemed like the company was scrambling to deal with the situation, with Karen being the one making important decisions. Only a small portion of a disposition was shown and that was really it for any sort of court scenes. The case was obviously mentioned several times, but it didn’t get really detailed like that sort of thing has been in other movies. The movie just shared what were the most important bits. Unorth was willing to go to some very extreme measures to keep certain things quiet. I wasn’t surprised that the company didn’t want things getting out. I was a little surprised by how they were willing to deal with what was considered the problem.
I did think that what was happening in the movie was believable for the most part. Class action law suits against large companies really have dragged on for years. I’ve never heard of a lawyer doing the type of work that Michael was doing, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there were lawyers that did that sort of thing. There was one thing that Michael did that was just a tiny bit convenient, though I think I figured out why he did that. There was something else he did that didn’t make the most sense. I’m thinking he did it so he’d have a little time to get something else done. Other than those two things, I thought everything else that happened made sense.
Michael Clayton was rated R, probably mostly because of the language used in a few scenes. The world that rhymes with luck, along with a few variations, was used a few times. It wasn’t used as extensively as it has been in some other movies. A couple of characters did say a few things that were sexual in one or two scenes. Those remarks also played a part in the rating the movie received. There were no sex scenes in the movie. The closest it got to any nudity was when Karen was shown in her bra and half slip when she was getting ready for work. I didn’t think that anything that happened was offensive. Some viewers could find a few things to be too disturbing.
Michael ended up being a complex character, trying to spend time with his son Henry, deal with other personal problems, and handle the situation created when Arthur flipped out. Michael had been a prosecutor before he started working for the firm. He’d been handling the messes and problems for years and felt like he had nothing to show for it since he wasn’t a partner. George Clooney gave an outstanding performance as Michael. It’s probably the best that I’ve seen from him. He played Michael rather understated that was completely believable. It was also believable when Michael got more forceful in a few situations. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Clooney gets another Oscar nomination for this performance. Austin Williams was in a few scenes as Michael’s son Henry. A few other members of Michael’s family were in one or two scenes without them being that important to the overall plot.
Arthur Edens had been working on the Unorth case for years. He had a condition that contributed to his meltdown. Sometimes what he said made sense and other times it sounded like nonsense. It did seem like he had trusted Michael and that the two of them had been friends before things started going wrong. Tom Wilkinson was wonderful in the part. Sydney Pollock was around in a few scenes as Marty Bach. I think he was one of the senior partners.
Karen worked at Unorth and had a lot of authority. She was the one who went to deal with the aftermath of Arthur’s meltdown. Karen was dedicated to her job and she was the one making decisions on how to proceed. There were times when she didn’t seem to care or be bothered by what was going on and other times she seemed like she was on the brink of falling apart. Tilda Swinton handled the part really well. Other people who worked for Unorth and the law firm were also shown at different times without any of them being important characters.
Main Cast
George Clooney - Michael Clayton Sydney Pollack - Marty Bach Tilda Swinton - Karen Crowder Tom Wilkinson - Arthur Edens Austin Williams - Henry Clayton
Written and directed by Tony Gilroy.
Michael Clayton was a very entertaining drama/thriller. The movie did have a slower pace than some, but it was still very good. Fans of George Clooney will probably want to see his amazing performance. This was one of the best movies I’ve seen this year.
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...More at Family Video
Attorney Michael Clayton is a fixer, the go-to guy when his powerful New York law firm wants a mess swept under the rug. But now he s handed a crisis ...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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