Michael Clayton

SYNOPSIS

Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is an in-house "fixer" at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York. A former criminal prosecutor, Clayton takes care of Kenner, Bach & Ledeen's dirtiest work at the behest of the firm's co-founder Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack). Though burned out and hardly content with his job as a fixer, his divorce, a failed business venture and mounting debt have left Clayton inextricably tied to the firm. At U/North, meanwhile, the career of litigator Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton) rests on the multi-million dollar settlement of a class action suit that Clayton's firm is leading to a seemingly successful conclusion. But when Kenner Bach's brilliant and guilt-ridden attorney Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson) sabotages the U/North case, Clayton faces the biggest challenge of his career and his life.

Saw this last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's not the kind of movie I generally want to see (serious instead of humorous; heavy subject matter) and I didn't pick it but it's such a good movie I think it's going to rate high with a wide array of movie lovers.

Clooney gets most of the praise for this movie and he is good but he is also surrounded by talent. Every actor in this movie gives an A+ performance. It's hard to see Michael O'Keefe and not think Caddyshack (especially when you caught part of Caddyshack just the day before on the tube) but you forget quickly enough and I was going "It's the White Witch!" seeing Tilda Swinton because her face is so distinctive but like I said, everyone was pitch perfect here.

Here are some review blurbs from rotten tomatoes that I agree with:

Insinuating and extremely clever, this insightful, low-key thriller takes a provocative look into the life of a man whose world begins to unravel around him. Rich Cline Shadows on the Wall

This uncommonly intelligent thriller evokes the great films of the 1970s (All the President's Men, Klute, Three Days of the Condor) that managed to elicit gritty urban realism while maintaining a suave sense of style and moral complexity. Ann Hornaday Washington Post

It is just about perfect as an exercise in the genre. I've seen it twice, and the second time, knowing everything that would happen, I found it just as fascinating because of how well it was all shown happening. Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Full Review Here - there aren't "spoilers" but it gives a lot of info the film reveals so well on it's own that I'd recommend skipping until you've seen the move

It's such a skilled job of directing and writing that the pages and pages of technical talk and lists of names and numbers all sound like actual dialogue. Jeffrey M. Anderson Combustible Celluloid

A poignant and powerful thriller about corporate malfeasance that reveals what it is like to face life-shattering moments. Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat Spirituality and Practice