I put off seeing this movie as it did not sound like my cup of tea at all. Corporate intrigue? George Clooney growing a conscience? Yawn. No thanks.

I stumbled upon it on cable as it was coming on and the husband wanted me to watch for a bit, just to see Tom Wilkinson’s performance (which is great). I was very surprised that this movie was not at all boring, which is what I’d gathered from the trailers. The film is interesting, layered, well-written and -acted (Tilda Swinton won an Oscar) and not at all convoluted, which is what I’ve come to expect from most movies of this kind. I highly recommend Michael Clayton.

A friend recommended Michael Clayton to me some time ago (ie. when it was still showing in theaters), but it took me until this week to check it out of the library (to be fair, I requested it some time ago). My timing was impressive: Just last week there was an article in The New Yorker about Tony Gilroy, who wrote and directed the movie. The article refers to Michael Clayton several times, and talks extensively about Gilroy’s use of the reversal. From The New Yorker article:

Gilroy told me, “A reversal is just anything that’s a surprise. It’s a way of keeping the audience interested.” A camera follows a man as he goes up the stairs to an apartment; we see his wedding ring as he pulls out his keys. He pushes open the door, slowly—a husband coming home, trudging up the stairs with his briefcase. But a woman in black lingerie greets him: he’s seeing his mistress! That is a reversal.

Beyond the co-incidence of watching a film so soon after reading an article about it, Michael Clayton is an excellent film. The DVD case describes it as a thriller, but it’s so much more than that. It reminded me a little of The Firm, albeit faster paced, and much more subtle. There’s remarkably little violence or use of special effects, no inclusion of a forced love interest (which is a bit of a relief, really) and the plot twists and turns (all those reversals!) so well that you’re constantly engaged.

How many innocent luxury vehicles have to die just to give George Clooney a look of hounded intensity?

i like this movie. i do. but the story was..i dont know whether to call it nuanced or convoluted. it seemed to pick up pace in strange places, the characters didnt seem motivated, it was like this movie didnt quite know what it wanted to be, do. again, let me reiterate i liked it. it had a great feel to it. but certain actions, things that happened..just didnt seem connected to reason. it wasnt cut and dry. which is good i suppose, but makes it very hard to follow and figure out what one is supposed to glean from it.

george clooney looks older than ever too, and the supporting cast was all excellent. i dunno, there just so many loose ends that it feels messy, the story just didnt know where to stop or end. huh. but i liked it nonetheless. one of those movies that make you feel cooler, kinda smarter when youre done watching it.

it’s not that this movie wasn’t worth consuming, it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

I didn’t get to watch too many of the Oscar films this year, but I did watch this DVD yesterday.

Wow. This was cool. It reminded me a bit of a John Grisham novel, but more layered and intricate, more players with more twists.

Michael Clayton is a “fixer,” a kind of free-agent lawyer whom other lawyers contract for seemingly impossible cases. When a prominent fellow attorney goes a little mental & then rogue, threatening to expose a corporation’s lethal secrets, Clayton is “put on the case”. To complicate matters, Clayton also has problems of his own, quickly coming to a head.

What I liked best about this were the moral ambiguities of a litigious culture. How much of your integrity will you sacrifice to advance in the ranks, or to just save face? Which is more important – the individual, or the conglomerate? What is the value of human life? All of these issues seem to come to roost toward the end of this film, with some satisfying results.

George Clooney does quite well with this complex character. His “eye-appeal” is of some value as well. ;-)