Clooney shines in smart thriller

By Ryan Pike

Over the past 25 years of cinema, there’s been a trend towards the dumbing-down of thrillers. Gone are the wacky plot twists and precarious turns that were the trademarks of Hitchcock, replaced with the cheap thrills and jump scenes that currently litter the silver screen. Thankfully, there are exceptions to the trend and intelligent thrillers are somehow slipping through the cracks of Hollywood and getting out to the masses. Michael Clayton is a great exception.

Set in the cutthroat world of law firms, Michael Clayton follows the title character (portrayed by George Clooney) as he navigates the ethical and moral grey area he inhabits as a “fixer” for a prestigious New York law firm. When Clayton’s unstable mentor Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson) seemingly goes off his meds while working on a high-profile defence with attorney Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton), he’s forced into damage control. Pressures mount in Clayton’s personal and professional lives when he discovers that his crazy friend may not have been as crazy as once thought.

Right from the opening frame, Michael Clayton grabs the audience’s attention. It helps that the film starts out quite explosively, but the film harnesses this energy and carries it throughout the duration. First-time director Tony Gilroy, an experienced screenwriter best known for adapting the Bourne series, handles his debut expertly. Despite harnessing a non-linear narrative–the opening scene actually occurs somewhere in the middle–Gilroy manages to convey the story very clearly. The writing itself, also by Gilroy, is very strong. The main characters are well-rounded, the narrative itself is concise and the plot twists–there are several in the third act–come about logically but remain fairly unexpected.

Michael Clayton is also blessed with a fine cast. George Clooney has had great success in recent years playing various versions of himself. Michael Clayton is a beardless, tired-looking Clooney looking for a way out of various situations. It’s an effective portrayal. Tom Wilkinson and Sydney Pollack are excellent as Clayton’s mentor and boss, respectively, and drive the majority of the plot. However, Tilda Swinton is the film’s standout. The closest thing to a villain in the film, Swinton also portrays the most complex character, awash in compromise and scrambling to survive.

With the landscape of Hollywood seemingly more commercialized than ever, it’s refreshing to experience films like Michael Clayton that eschew commercialism in order to tell a story. Bolstered by a tight script, great acting and a director that knows what works and what doesn’t, Michael Clayton is sure to garner Academy Award attention come the spring.





Michael Clayton is now playing in theatres everywhere. Be sure to pick up the Gauntlet’s Thu., Dec. 6 issue for a look back on the Best Films of 2007. The Gauntlet loves their lawyer.