Michael Clayton is a lawyer. A man who cleans up themess left behind by others. He isn't a miracle worker, as he is called, but rather a janitor, as he calls himself.
Michael (George Clooney), has been assigned to help a friend, Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), he has seemingly gone crazy in court.
Arthur is helping manage a class-action lawsuit for UNorth, a chemical company who knowingly sold a crop chemical that killed hundreds of people, brought on by a group of some 400+ farmers.
In the middle of a negotiating a settlement, Arthur snaps, takes his clothes off, and runs naked down the street after a deposition witness.
Michael flys out to get Arthur and bring him back, safely. However, Arthur isn’t at all stable, and Michael unknowingly becaomes involved in the lawsuit. Arthur was on to something that would shatter the case for UNorth and win some 3 billion dollars for the farmers. Things turn ugly after Arthur apparently commits suicide, and, despite his own problems, Michael is thrown deeper into the ungly, bitter lawsuit battle.
Michael Clayton is one of the best legal thrillers in recent years. Probably the best since A Few Good Men. Slick and cunning, The beginnign is the end and we don’t even know it. The film starts off with a bang, and gets going full throttle soon afterwards. Clooney is amazing; it’s one of his best roles and even better than he was in Syriana.
First time director Tony Gilroy, of the Bourne trilogy, has done a superb job crafting the film. He throws in some surprises and he even manages to startle the hell out you at one point.
But it’s actor Tom Wilkinson who steals the show with his manic-depressive Arthur. He throws out his lines sharply, and crazily, giving well deserved Oscare nominated performance.
The films never reveals more than we need to know at any one given time; it lets the information slip out naturally, so as we find out, those on screen find out. And when the gun-fight at the OK corall has ended, and the lights come on, we are left feeling vindicated.
Sharp and cleaver, well written, and with terrific performances by the main cast, Michael Clayton isn’t the best picture of the year, but it is one of them, and a can’t miss film of 2007. See for yourself.
Movies it was nominated with for Best Picture:
Atonement, Juno; No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood
Is the movie worth your time to watch?
9/10 15-02-08
Age at win: 47
Nominated for: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Karen Crowder, Michael Clayton
Nomination: 1/1 (acting), 1/1 (total); Win: Only
Tilda Swinton does not have a large role in Michael Clayton, but then, as they say, there are no small parts, just small actors. Small or not, Tilda won the supporting Oscar for palying an executive of a multi-national corporation fighting a class-action lawsuit.
Tilda's performace is hard-edged, and her best scene is near the end of the film 
where George Clooney's Michael Clayton tears a strip off her.
Tilda has been a top named actress for only the last couple of years despite the fact she has been in the business for some 20-odd years. Her best role before Michael Clayton was that of the White Witch in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. She deserved a nomination for that role. She was just so cold and evil! Well Oscar didn't take long too find her at all. This isn't the last we will see of Tilda, and I'm sure we'll see more gold come her way.
25-02-08
