Michael Clayton
The first reaction this movie inspired in me was utter, sadistic glee. “Finally,” I thought, “I can write a scathing, sarcastic review for a pretentious, over-hyped movie that takes itself far too seriously.” My final reaction was remembering to breathe.
Michael Clayton is played by George Clooney (who also co-produced the film), a behind-the-scenes man working for one of America’s biggest law firms, cleaning up the dirtier twists of clients’ personal lives to spare them trouble in courts. Basically, he is a lawyer.
Clayton’s colleague and old time friend Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson) is defending the huge transnational corporation UNorth in a class lawsuit which, if won, would save the face of the company and bring Clayton’s and Eden’s firm a healthy profit. But Eden, after years of defending what he calls “the worst excrements of human-kind” in the first minute of the movie, has a moral crisis, strips in front of the plaintiffs and decides he will single-handedly display the evils of UNorth to the world instead of hiding them.
Clayton is sent in to clear up the situation, but after a divorce, a failed business and years spent clearing up legal mud, he also slowly wakes up to the ambiguous ethics of his job and the specific case he is trying to solve.
The plot is not overly complicated, though the legal language is at times a bit too much, almost making you wonder why they didn’t just add plain English subtitles to clear up simple concepts made a little too complicated by the lingo. After a slow start, the story rumbles on, growing in magnitude and reaching its peak in a conclusion made glorious chiefly by Clooney’s acting.
He and Wilkinson lift an already interesting storyline simply with the strength of their performances. The speech Wilkinson delivers at the beginning of the movie is given with such vitriolic conviction it will reverberate in my mind every time I speak to a lawyer. Clooney has the smoothness he so naturally displays in the Ocean’s series, but adds to it other facets of both strength and fragility that a man who hates his job and wants out might display.
Tilda Swinton gives a great supporting performance in the two-faced Karen Crowder, both insecure and positively evil, depending on whether she is in UNorth’s boardroom or not. And watch out for Austin Williams, who plays the minor role of Clooney’s son, and is probably the next Haley Joel Osment. Mention must be made of the soundtrack, which underlines the cold, tense moods of the movie, and the setting – a chilly winter on the American East coast - lends itself to the darkness of the story, as well as supplying one moment of incredible beauty.
Overall, the movie is a gritty, down-to-earth description of the darker parts of the world of corporate law. An interesting plot is made even stronger by the stunning performances of the two main actors, with the twists and increasing tempo bringing you closer and closer to the edge of your seat.
