Michael Clayton

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by Scott Cupper
10/18/07

Michael Clayton……………George Clooney
Karen Crowder……………..Tilda Swinton
Arthur Edens………………..Tom Wilkinson
Henry Clayton………………Austin Williams
Marty Bach…………………Sydney Pollack

Written and Directed by Tony Gilroy

Rated R
Runtime: 1 hr 59 min


I had my doubts as to the validity of the title of Michael Clayton. How could a thriller be named after the main character? After having seen the movie, there is no better title.

Michael Clayton is a character study cleverly disguised as a thriller. It’s a rumination about family and where family fits into life when we’re all so busy running around doing our jobs. And what are our jobs anyway? Do they define us? But I promise you, it’s a thriller, and an incredibly effective one, but one where only the cops have guns, and nary one of them is fired. After having seen The Brave One which hinges all its drama on a normal citizen up and buying a gun, it’s refreshing to see a movie that doesn’t rely on guns to create drama.

Very few thrillers have room for any sense of character development. There’s plot to churn out so they better get cookin’. Michael Clayton circumvents this problem by speaking in grace notes.

When we are introduced to Michael Clayton’s (George Clooney) son, Henry (Austin Williams), we see him in an apartment. It is tight and crammed with housewares. His mom chastises him on his way out the door for not eating breakfast. The stepfather rolls his eyes begging her to let the kid be a kid. He feeds another child who is in a hi-chair. He is bald and rather plain. Henry walks outside and we see George Clooney waiting for him. In that brief scene, we learn Michael Clayton is divorced. His wife probably left him because she never saw him. So she found a guy who earned less and wasn’t as flashy, but could give her the stability to have another kid. We don’t see her again. The movie is full of these moments that infer more than tell.

So who is Michael Clayton? Michael Clayton works for a prestigious law firm as a fix-it guy. If there’s a problem, he cleans it up. As it would happen, a big problem happens when one of their litigators on a huge case, Arther Edens (Tom Wilkinson), strips down in a deposition.

And that’s all I want to say. I’ve seen plenty of movies in my time. Not as many as I’d like, but enough, and it’s hard to keep me guessing. I didn’t have a clue as to how this movie was going to resolve until it did. But it’s a fine line to travel. Not only are we following Michael Clayton and discovering things as he does, we’re also discovering who Michael Clayton is. The movie never gives us firm footing.

Certainly not in the first 15 minutes. We are thrown into this movie. Scenes of sterile New York office buildings are set against Arthur’s voice as he patters on in a mad ramble. We follow a courier in one of these buildings into a room with 50 people all doing very important things but without a clue as to who they are or what they’re doing. Michael Clayton is sent to speak with Mr. Greer who left the scene of a hit-and-run.

Here is another example of the economy of this movie. Casting director Ellen Chenoweth found people whose very appearance onscreen tells you who they are. Denis O’Hare’s performance as Mr. Greer is pitch perfect. Now watch his wife (Julie White) in the background. Again, we know everything we need to know about this man and his wife.

The leads as well are perfect. I’ve been a fan of George Clooney’s before it was cool to be a fan. This is his best work. Clooney is expert at playing calm, cool and in control. He begins this way, but through the movie, fissures begin to show. Clooney shows his commitment in a scene with Tom Wilkinson in which the only thing he has left is desperation. It is a brave performance.

The other standout is Tilda Swinton, and I will let you discover how she fits into this puzzle. An English actress, she is little known on these shores, but this performance should change that. We see her running through a speech that she will be making later. She tries different words, expressions and we see a woman who doubts herself and knows that she has no choice but to believe in herself. That contradiction is evident in every single word she utters.

Sydney Pollack, the man you get when you need the head of a law firm, also does his best work here. He’s played this character before, but there’s often a sense that he’s trying to justify why he’s there. There is no sense of that here.

The movie is written and directed by Tony Gilroy, best known as a screenwriter on the Bourne movies. This is his directorial debut. Clooney had originally wanted to direct. I believe Clooney is as skilled a director as he is an actor, but he prefers long takes and fluid camera work. The precision and exacting detail that Tony Gilroy brings might have been lost. Michael Clayton is quite a statement from a first-time director. I can’t wait for more.