Michael Clayton
Michael Clayton (2007)
Starring - George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, Sydney Pollack, Pamela Gray
Directed by - Tony Gilroy
This film is a joy to wtach and uses one of the most intelligent devices in the book, when it works, and in this it does. I will come back to that later. This film is also, after the in my view unwarranted overhype of Clooney's roles in Good Night And Good Luck and Syriana, George Clooney's best serious performance.
Clooney plays the title role, Michael Clayton, he fixes things for a corparte compnay called Kenna, Bach and Ladeen. When suits are brought that could cost the company, he is the one to fix it. When the company is asked to take care of U-North's (a water company accused to mistrating water and causing cancer) case, lead litiigator Karen Crowder's (Swinton) career is on the line to ensure a successful conclusion is reached. Clayton's loyalty to the company ensures he does everything to help, until the mysterious death of the firms old head, Arthur Edens, leads Clooney to suspect U-North were behind the murder.
At this point Clayton's suspicions lead him on a new journey to do the right thing and try and find a way to destroy the U-North settlement and get justice for those affected by the U-North's profit at any cost attitude.
Clooney plays Clayton with poise and passion on a higher level than anything I have seen before. He is also aided by a magnificent supporting performance by Tom Wilkinson as the slightly mad, campaigning old head of the firm who this law suit was one dirty case too far. Swinton for me fell a bit flat, and the ending could have brought it all together better for me. One great move of the film was what I mentioned at the start, it began with a scene that we then went backwards from, and the full extent of it could only be understood once we got back there, this technique worked a dream here.
A film very much worth seeing, not quite the full emotional depth of a couple of recent films but Clooney and Wilkinson are well worth the effort to see this on their own merits.
MOON OF LIBERTY VERDICT - RATING 'A-' A fine film with two excellent male performances, the ending was a little flat and lost some of the emotional drive, the main reason I have not quite got this in the 'A' category.
