Michael Clayton

After seeing "Superbad" last weekend, I needed a grown-up antidote and this movie is certainly that. A slow moving, adult, serious movie with a message.

The movie has a number of themes including ageing, corruption, principles and truth. The movie's message is that there is more to life than making money.

The acting is uniformly good but Clooney is outstanding. His character is complex and he's pretty unhappy with what he has become. But it's all done very subtly. There are no obvious messages in this movie. As another reviewer wrote, you have to pay attention.

Don't read too much into my "slow moving/slow burner" descriptions. This movie is not boring. It just doesn't whiz along with one implausible twist after another. It's evenly paced with an almost complete lack of silly plot lines (there was no need for the lawyer in crisis to remove his clothes during a trial).

Everyone involved in this movie deserves praise for producing a challenging, grown-up, movie-with-a-message in the face of a torrent of mindless nonsense.

Highly recommended.

Everyone who is interested in writing should take note from that movie. The first few minutes are a bit disorienting but the movie carefully sets up it's pieces with every player and their relationships.

To give you an example, in general I hate it when movies start with the third act until the obligatory "two weeks before" line pops up after five minutes.

Here it does have a purpose from a narrative point of view to establish the sense of danger and what is about to come. Not only that, because of this we get a first glimpse of our protagonist. The way he is introduced in this opening feels very natural without any heavy exposition dumps. In fact we get a two way-introduction: by his private situation and through his professional life as well.

In general, the dialogue here is very precise, to the point and doesn't have any artifice like an Aaron Sorkin script. It has quite some memorable lines that I could almost compete with Glenngarry Glen Ross.

This isn't another movie that glorifies lawyers and throws in a trial here and there to keep the attention with spectacle. No, this is more about what happens between the cracks. How arrangements are being done in the background, before we even get to a trial.

Especially for the rich clients who benfit from these kind of deals. We all know, it's a dirty business.

Nevertheless there's a focus in the humanity of each character and even the 'villain' played by Tilda Swinton is more realistically portrayed in a pitiful manner, rather than a cold calculating CEO we usual expect from those kind of movies. There's one deeply disturbing scene for me which I won't spoil but the way it was so casually shot was quite something.

It even benfits from a second viewing because there's a lot foreshadowing and imagery in the background (especially the book the kid is reading).

It's a little bit complex in the beginning and dialogue- heavy in terms of lawyer speech so it's definitely a movie where you have to pay attention, but it's worth it. Anyway, to anyone who likes strong character portrayals paired with conspiracy thriller elements, I can wholeheartedly recommend this movie.

This film marks an incredible directorial debut for Tony Gilroy. He was an accomplished screenwriter - and his script for MC is immaculate - but his direction was inspired with confidence and craftsmanship. Immaculate performances across the board - especially from Tilda Swinton and Tom Wilkinson. Masterful storytelling and nearly perfect execution. The look and feel of the world was perfectly calibrated. It's one of the those films that gets even stronger with age. There's so much happening in his film, to re-watch is overcome with revelations. I love this film so much. I really wish they made films this smart and well-crafted more often these days. It's just not the kind of film that movie studios care to make anymore. Sadly.

I love this movie - I have watched it many times, most recently last night. It has one of the best collections of superb performances you'll find, wrapped in an anti-corporate Erin Brokovich-like story structure. But what's really going on is the individual characters. George Clooney is so under rated. He has a clear understanding of his role at his firm - he's a fixer, a janitor. But he's really good at it and it's allowed him to fund his other hobbies. The interaction between him and his brother is so subtle New York class structure: brother's a cop so sees his brother as a fancy lawyer; Clooney's coworkers know his background and see him as a cop. Tom Wilkinson is incredible. Lead attorney at the firm, leading their defense of their client, a giant ag company accused of poisoning people. A non-showy naturalistic performance showing someone going off their medication. Or is he just waking up and deciding not to sell his soul anymore? It's a Peter Finch/Network level performance, I kid you not. And finally, my girl Tilda Swinton. She is never ever boring. She is ostensibly the face of the villain in this story. And yet Tilda does something really interesting here. She allows you inside this character's job in a male-dominated corporation, in an awful industry, you understand her ambition, but she lets you see how over her head she feels she is. She makes her character's anxiety palpable. And yet, when the inevitable confrontation happens: she deserves it. You get the feeling, though, that had she been smarter and stronger, the men she works for would never have allowed her to be around. So ultimately they did this to themselves. Finally, the elegant plot structure. You begin near the end, go back to the beginning, and then go past where you started to the end. "I am Siva, the god of death"

Came here to write a review to this excellent film. Wonderfully written by Tony Gilroy. I have not seen any of his earlier/or later works except Duplicity, which to me was a pretty average film. Everyone in MC are top of the line pros - Tilda Swindon, Tom Wilkinson, Sidney Pollack and George Clooney, doing what he does best. The story is cleverly written, adapted in a tight and flawless manner. Surprised by the lower rating here. For me a good 8/10. Yes, it has an interesting ending but that doesn't do justice to the excellent journey the film takes you on from start to finish. If you enjoy edgy, legal thrillers, get yourself going with it. I've watched after an article on Atlantic describing it as a treatise on human soul's intense cry for help today. We all want something about this world to desperately change but we see it turning against us with more intensity the more we think about it.