Worth seeing for the great performances This film tells the story of Michael Clayton (George Clooney, of course), the "fixer" at a prestigious New York law firm. He helps clients out of little scrapes, leverages his contacts to make the firm's problems go away, and in general operates under the radar to ensure that business continues to run smoothly.
Clayton has a huge opportunity to work his magic when friend Arthur Edens (in a brilliant performance by Tom Wilkinson), one of the firm's senior partners, changes his opinion about one of the firm's major clients. Apparently, Edens becomes convinced that UNorth, a company he's been defending for 6 years in a contamination/poisoning case, was guilty all along. Edens snaps, creating a scene during a deposition and later collecting irrefutable evidence of UNorth's guilt.
While Clayton scrambles to contain the situation, UNorth's new vice president, Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton - amazing), devises her own way of silencing Edens. Pretty soon, bodies start turning up. And after a life of cleaning up other people's messes, Clayton has to decide what he really stands for.
Performances are wonderful in this, and they are the primary reason to see this film (though it's not as much fun to watch Clooney "think" on screen as it is with other actors, such as Tom Hanks). The script moves along at a fairly quick clip, and I thought the majority of the action in this corporate thriller was very believable.
What I liked best about this film, though, was the way it addressed the relativity of morality in today's society. For example, Clayton has spent his life kinda on the "wrong" side. He's been paid handsomely for it, and you don't get the feeling (at the beginning of the movie, anyway) that he's lost any sleep over it. But the film begs the question - Where does one draw the line? At what point can one no longer justify one's actions, even through today's hazy lens of right and wrong? What does a lifetime of such moral tiptoeing leave you with, what sort of legacy? These are the questions that, more and more, begin to drive Clayton towards the conclusion of the film.
What is this about? I'll credit George Clooney for not making mindless movies, for the most part. Here, he's a corporate legal fixer involved in some type of coverup scam involving millions of dollars. It's all a bit unclear, but you get the idea that he's the good guy. A lot of the dialogue seems to be saying something significant, but I couldn't quite figure out what. Some context and explication is missing. You could do worse than this entertainment.
Michael This is the best movie that is full of suspence right to the end. George Clooney demostrates that good prevails over evil; however we have to be viligent as consumers.
Greaat film and all actors are great. 5 stars
Good thriller Well told thriller about corporate lawyers and what they do to protect their clients. George Clooney plays a guy you kind of root for, even though he's doing the devil's work, just because he does it so well and so smooth. Even he doesn't like what he does, but he knows that this is his place in life. Until, of course, events occur that make him re-assess himself, and he struggles with the answers. Well acted, and really well directed.
"OH WOW''! "lOVE THIS MOVIE " WATCH IT OVER AND OVER ON MY DVD PLAYER EVEN DURING THE NITE, USING MY EARPHONES OF COURSE!!!!! TOM WILKERSON'S PERFORMANCE IS BEYOND PERFECTION. I NEVER GET TIRED OF WATCHING HIS PERFORMANCE..... TRULY AMAZING.......GEORGE CLOONEY LOOKS GREAT IN A SUIT. THIS ROLE WAS TAILOR MADE FOR HIM, THE MISTER "fix it" FOR A PRESTIGIOUS LAW FIRM. A PERFECT FIT. TILDA SWINTON THE FEMALE VEXON WAS THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT CHARACTER YOU DIDN'T KNOW WHAT LENGHTS SHE WOULD GO TO NEXT TO KEEP HER CORPORATE STATUS SHE JUSTS BUILDS THE SUSPENCE THROUGHOUT THE MOVIE. KUDOS!... TO TONY GILROY. P.S. HOW ABOUT A SEQUEL????????? I'M UP FOR IT. (WIDE SCREEN EDITION DVD FABULOUS)
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