Michael Clayton

I rarely give 5 stars to a movie. They're reserved for films so true and with humanly complex characters. For instance, my favorite movie is Training Day. When have you ever seen such an astonishing performance?George Clooney is that incredible character in an excellent movie, with a tight, spare script and great direction.In the last scene the shot on Clooney's face must have lasted 5 minutes. It's ridiculously hard to maintain your character in the 'stare' of the camera. You can see the disgust and tension fall away as the hint of a smile appears right before the cut.Tilda Swinton was also excellent. Her subservience, imposter syndrome, rampant anxiety and those power suits! It's a accurate picture of the woman walking a high wire to keep her success, but it's right out of the 80's like her clothes. She's a sad sack until she decides to destroy anyone in her way.The greasy, perspiration soaked, fluidly moral, weak automaton who 'presents' in terror, by rote, smiling "yes" woman perfectly reflects the corporate world. The cop is a beautiful foil to that. Right is right and wrong is wrong. What a relief.What if Arthur is sane and the legal representation world is crazy?For those of you who need bullets flying and car chases to be 'excited' about a movie, don't watch this film.For those who want to devour a sumptuous banquet of menace, morality, and success and failure with a touch of insanity, this film is for you.

A top-drawer thriller with a really interesting structure. The great cast includes George Clooney in what might be his best role (certainly one of his best-written roles), Tom Wilkinson, whose performance is breathtaking, and Tilda Swinton, who is also awe-inspiring to watch for anyone who is interested in the craft of acting. This reminds me in tone a bit of Sidney Lumet's THE VERDICT, another great film, both about two men, once brilliant in their careers, slip-sliding away and being presented with one last chance to prove themselves. In MICHAEL CLAYTON, the film actually begins close to the end of the story, and then loops back around on itself, to tell the whole story, returning to the same point where it began, and then continuing on. The resulting unveiling of the plot gives you context for the beginning and when the opening moment comes around again, it's very satisfying to see what a coup the writer pulled off. There are a lot of suspense thrillers out there -- it's one of the genres America seems to produce the most. But this is a really, really, really strong playbook on how to do everything right when working in this genre.

The first time I saw this film I have to tell you I would not have given it a 5 star rating. It was only after watching it several times over the years did I come to really appreciate the actors, screen play, and the Director for the wonderful work. This film is one that has to be watched on a number of levels and really thought about for its insight into human behavior. It is now in our collection and will stay there. If you have never watched it or watched it only once, please give it a chance. I think if you clear your mind and really get into the characters you will come to love this film as I do.

I multitask when watching/hearing videos on computer. I thought I was following along, but I was surprised when the end came so soon. Is that all there is? Somebody has a slam-dunk suit against a chemical company. Chemical company hires hit men to off the lawyer who designed the winning case, and to off George Clooney who might be able to prove what the chemical company did. Deus ex machina saves George from being offed, so righteousness wins out in the end. Academy Award for that?You can tell the movie is about something sinister because the lighting is dim.

Great corporate conspiracy movie, with lots of characters on various levels of personal association with a horrific agricultural cover-up.Complex and worth a second, or perhaps third viewing…A great American movie that sails high above the vast pool of crap we produce in this country every day; I am so sick of films that rely on CGI to try and woo the viewer…this movie has a great plot and is truthful in its approach infacing the hundreds of cover-ups big corporations get away with all the time…makes you think!Tom Wilkinson and George Clooney, as well as Swinton, make this movie worth watching; Sydney Pollack, once again, is brilliant.

Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is a lawyer and a fixer. When someone has a problem they call him in to find a solution. He gets in over his head however when he’s called in to deal with his boss at the law firm Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson) who has a psychotic event during a deposition in a $3 billion lawsuit against a client called U-North. The story is not just a thriller but one about ethics.The movie mixes a thriller and a moral dilemma. Clayton is first trying to track down Edens and then evolves into a question about what he will do with an important lawsuit Edens was working on. Clooney does a great job with Clayton. Being a fixer he really never had any ethics. He just got the job done. Now that he’s dealing with his friend Edens and the U-North case he finally gets struck by the truth of his whole career and whether the wants to continue with it.C

If you missed this one when it came down the pike, you are in for a REAL treat!!! This is a lawyer movie different than other lawyer movies. Sure, it deals in the moral quagmires that lawyers might have to deal with, being lawyers, defending bad people, but it deals with these ideas in a much more sophisticated and DRAMATIC way than any others have. A true work of art. You'll watch it more than once, simply because it's so good, not because you didn't understand it, and you'll enjoy it the second and third time. I hope you missed this one, because it's going to blow your mind!

A fairly forgettable thriller that deals with a lawsuit against a giant pesticide corporation. Tilda Swinton is a good villainess. George Clooney, as usual, plays the noble lead. Pacey enough, but without the substance for a second view. On the plus side, the film does criticise the venal behaviour of large law firms.

I saw this as a film not so much about the story but more about characters; George Clooney's in the main, obviously. The plot regarding the UNorth case is just a scene-setter and contrary to what some other reviewers have said I didn't find it unduly complicated or slow. Mr Clayton is a man who is apparently successful - defined by his corporate, private jet, world - but is hugely unfulfilled; Tom Wilkinson's character (Arthur Edens) similarly so. Each in their own way is miserable, we see much of Clayton's non-work life where even then he is required to be welded to his `phone, but not so much of Edens'. The apartment where Edens `lives' (when not at the office or on the road) is not exactly luxurious. So each of them `want out', Edens from his job and Clayton - it seems - from `everything'. Casting aside the mental health aspects, how many people, I wonder, would like to have rebelled against interminable meetings as did Edens, to go out in one grand futile gesture perhaps.The scene with Clayton and the three horses is exquisite, well acted and played with the correct level of pathos. Other early scenes build the characters on which the film depends and, yes, there are no car chases nor exploding helicopters so I can see why some of the other reviewers would find it boring.We see how Karen Crowder responds to pressure, so someone who again seems to live the corporate high life, in this case in charge of a large department and being a `key client', is reduced to being just a person on their own who makes interesting decisions from a strange set of values. Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack) begins the film as powerful and in complete command of his universe but we see by the end that corporate machinations within his firm render him to be just someone else having his strings pulled so he is not the master of his own destiny, albeit well remunerated.This is a film that you have to watch rather than allow to wash over you; it has a great central performance around which all of the other characters revolve.

Michael Clayton is in a niche of films that I'm drawn to: political thrillers. Just something about the concise scripts, realistic characters and plausible plots that absorbs my attention...this is no different. This is a damn good political thriller with great performances all round. Clooney and Wilkinson are great but Swinton (who received an Oscar for this) just owns her final scene...so so understated. Tony Gilroy directed this with precision and his camerawork is exceptional. The plot can be a little ambiguous and complicated to follow, but it will grab your attention. I'm glad that I've upgraded this to bluray!

Tense, exciting, gripping, heart pounding, action packed thriller.These are all words used on the DVD box to describe this dire, tedious and dull slow burner that fails to ignite at any point.

One of George Clooneys best but why did he think by throwing his watch in the burning car, it would keep them of the trail.