Plot
Michael Clayton (George Clooney) handles all of the dirty work for a major New York law firm, arranging top-flight legal services and skirting through loopholes for ethically questionable clients. But when a fellow "fixer" decides to turn on the very firm they were hired to clean up for, Clayton finds himself at the center of a conspiratorial maelstrom. Once an ambitious D.A., Clayton is now a shell of his former dynamic self, thanks to a divorce, an unfortunate business venture, and astronomical debt. Though he longs to leave the cutthroat, ethically dubious world of corporate law behind, Clayton's poor financial situation and devotion to firm head Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack) leave him little choice but to remain on the job and tough it out. Meanwhile, litigator Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton) finds her entire company's future hinging on the outcome of a multi-billion-dollar settlement overseen by Clayton's friend, star lawyer Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson). When Edens snaps and decides to blow the whistle on the questionable case, sabotaging the defense, Clayton must decide between his loyalty and his conscience. ~ Jason Buchanan, RoviReview
Tony Gilroy's elegantly structured script for Michael Clayton offers a series of plot developments and character details that don't build so much as accumulate in the viewer's mind, until a thunderously entertaining final scene -- the kind of confrontation an old-time Hollywood mogul might call a "corker" -- pays them all off in a thrilling verbal face-off. As a first-time director, Gilroy maintains a steady, measured pace. His style serves his low-key but involving script, quietly adding layers to the characters while moving the plot along. The first-rate editing juggles timelines in the best possible way, allowing events to have a much different meaning when you see them a second time.George Clooney gives another first-rate performance as Clayton, a man who can keep his clients' lives in order, but not his own. We know, because he is so good at his job, that he will figure out how to get himself out of the seemingly impossible position he gets himself into when his closest friend, an older attorney at the firm, has a mental breakdown while defending a chemical company facing a multi-million-dollar class-action suit. As the friend, Tom Wilkinson gets to deliver all of the film's colorful monologues. Unafraid to recall Peter Finch's performance in Network, Wilkinson offers a realistic portrait of manic depression while also reveling in the florid theatricality of his character's expansive orations. He manages to be simultaneously over-the-top and realistic -- as well as sympathetic. Tilda Swinton, shot in a way that lets the audience know how Gilroy feels about corporate functionaries, makes for an original adversary -- her obsessively detail-oriented character is the one most in over her head. Sydney Pollack, a woefully underappreciated actor, not only hits every note he is asked to play, but gives the film even more credibility as an updated '70s paranoid thriller simply because of his presence.
Midway into the film, Gilroy stages a murder that offers a grueling commentary on the cold-blooded efficiency of modern corporate life. The murder happens close-up. It is hands-on, bloodless, and mechanical, leaving the viewer with an unshakeable sense of unease. The act happens as simply and with as much understatement as everything else in the movie; Gilroy feels no need to punctuate his material with either ominous music or lingering shots of outraged faces. The director never indicates to his audience how horrible what we are seeing is, he takes it for granted that we have the humanity to be appropriately shocked. This is what Gilroy gets very right throughout the film -- he trusts his audience. He repays that trust with that grandly entertaining final scene, where he finally lets the audience release all of the emotions he has kept efficiently bottled up for two hours. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi
Cast
- George Clooney - Michael Clayton
- Tom Wilkinson - Arthur Edens
- Tilda Swinton - Karen Crowder
- Sydney Pollack - Marty Bach
- Michael O'Keefe - Barry Grissom
Credit
Clay Brown - Art Director, Daniel Rosenblum - Boom Operator, Ellen Chenoweth - Casting, Blake Neely - Conductor, Christopher Goode - Co-producer, Sarah Edwards - Costume Designer, Steve Apicella - First Assistant Director, Tony Gilroy - Director, John Gilroy - Editor, George Clooney - Executive Producer, Jim Holt - Executive Producer, Anthony Minghella - Executive Producer, Steven Soderbergh - Executive Producer, James Holt - Executive Producer, Eddy Collyns - Location Manager, James Newton Howard - Composer (Music Score), Brian Ross - Musical Direction/Supervision, P. Scott Sakamoto - Camera Operator, Kevin Thompson - Production Designer, Robert Elswit - Cinematographer, Jennifer Fox - Producer, Kerry Orent - Producer, Sydney Pollack - Producer, Steven Samuels - Producer, Alan Meyerson - Recording, Alan Meyerson - Sound Mixer, Michael Barosky - Sound/Sound Designer, Clay Duncan - Sound/Sound Designer, Mel Wesson - Sound/Sound Designer, Michael Brooks - Sound/Sound Designer, Alex Kharlamov - Sound/Sound Designer, Norman Douglass - Stunts, Joanne Lamstein - Stunts, Don J. Hewitt - Stunts, Chris Barnes - Stunts, Gene Harrison - Stunts, John E. Mack - Stunts, Jery Hewitt - Stunts Coordinator, Christopher Goode - Unit Production Manager, Tony Gilroy - Screenwriter, Joe Collins - Second Unit Director Of Photography, Anthony Wolberg - Additional Cinematography, Patrick Quinn - Second Unit Camera, John Young - Second Unit Camera, Brian Langman - Sound Effects Editor, Julie Kuehndorf - Unit Publicist, Doug Foote - First Assistant Camera, Barry Idoine - First Assistant Camera, Gregor Tavenner - First Assistant Camera, James Brown - Grip, Gary Martone - Key Grip, Robert Kummert - Key Grip, John Duvall - Key Grip, Nic Ratner - Music Editor, Charlene Olson - Post Production Supervisor, Jen Crammer - Production Coordinator, Igor Srubshchik - Production Supervisor, Peter Gelfman - Properties Master, Andy Kris - Re-Recording Mixer, Michael Barry - Re-Recording Mixer, Mary Cybulski - Script Supervisor, Michael Pitt - Second Assistant Director, Thomas Cioccio - Second Assistant Director, Myles Aronowitz - Still Photographer, Paul Soucek - Supervising Sound Editor, Kenton Jakub - ADR Editor, David Boulton - ADR Mixer, Bobby Johanson - ADR Mixer, Wade Laboissonniere - Assistant Costume Designer, Michael J. Maurer - Assistant Chief Lighting Technician, Hilary Smith - Assistant Location Manager, David Ginsberg - Assistant Location Manager, Amy Trachtman - Assistant Production Coordinator, Jim Kent - Assistant Properties, Robin Voth - Assistant Properties, Pedro Hernández - Best Boy Grip, Danny Beaman - Best Boy Grip, Amelia Rasche - Casting Associate, Scott Ramsey - Chief Lighting Technician, John F. Brooke Montgomery - Chief Lighting Technician, Michael Herlihy - Construction Coordinator, Kate Edwards - Costumes Supervisor, David Davenport - Costumes Supervisor, Dan Korintus - Dialogue Editor, Robert Feldmann - Dolly Grip, Edward J. Knott III - Dolly Grip, Abby Bailey - First Assistant Accountant, Aaron Marshall - First Assistant Editor, Jay Peck - Foley Artist, William Sweeney - Foley Editor, Jerry Popolis - Key Hairstylist, Mia Thoen - Key Make-up, Chris DeTitta - Leadman, Angela McConnell - Personal Assistant, J.R. Craigmile - Production Accountant, Catherine Lynch Sullivan - Production Controller, Angela Bellisio - Second Assistant Camera, Beka Venezia - Second Assistant Camera, Ulysses Guidotti - Second Assistant Editor, Jason Ivey - Second Second Assistant Director, Matt Power - Second Second Assistant Director, Joe DeStefano - Set Dresser, Paul Gaily - Set Dresser, Tim Power - Set Dresser, Pete Shevlin - Set Dresser, Dennis Salomone - Transportation Captain, Kevin R. Wood - Transportation Captain, Handmade Digital Incorporated - Visual Effects, George De Titta, Jr. - Set Decorator, Chuck Potter - Set Decorator, Paul Cheponis - Set Decorator, Christine Mayer - Set Decorator, John Schabel - Set Decorator, Jerry Yuen - Cable Person, Michelle Mader - Cable Person, Michael Curry Jr. - Construction Foreman, Tomkats, Inc. - Craft Service/Catering, Buena Vista Negative Cutting - Negative Cutter, Joshua Chaplinsky - Production Secretary, T. Ray Treece - Video Assist, T. Ray Treece - Video Playback, Pacific Title - Title Design, Deborah Ross Film Design - Title Design, Alyson Wellins - Art Department Coordinator, Mick Gormaley - Assistant Music Editor, Waldo Sanchez - Department Head Hair, Chris Bingham - Department Head Makeup, Dan Ward - First Assistant Sound Editor, Niki DiCesare - Assistant to the Director, Dylan Ashbrook - Producer's Assistant, Ann Marie Doris - Producer's Assistant, Karen Marsh - Producer's Assistant, Karla Nappi - Producer's Assistant, Alyson Evans - Assistant Unit Manager| Michael Caine: Acting in Film (1989 Film), Michael Bublé: Totally Bublé (2004 Film) | |
| Michael Collins (1996 Film), Michael Crawford in Concert (1998 Film) |
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