Review: ‘Michael Clayton’

Zac:

This is the kind of movie we need more of, intelligent thrillers, that keeps you guessing, constantly engages you in the picture, and doesn’t take the audiences knowledge for granted.
Tony Gilroy, writer of the Bourne movies, makes his directorial debut here and does a fantastic job and he made his job a lot easier by getting an amazing cast. George Clooney leads the way and is absolutely fantastic as the title character.
Clooney plays the character perfectly and we believe his struggles with all of the aspects of his life. The title character is such a breath of fresh air because he isn’t just a one note song, there are layers to this guy, and we don’t just deal with only one problem in his life, we see everything that is going on with his life over the course of the four days of the film and each story is equally engaging and Gilroy’s script weaves them all together so well.
Tilda Swinton also does some good work here as the executive that might be a bit in over her head but willing to do anything for the company from losing the class action law suit that the movie revolves around.
Sydney Pollack also has some great work, and a couple of good one liner’s, as the Firm CEO that is in the middle of all of the drama unfolding on all sides. For a director he is one pretty good actor as well.
Tom Wilkinson is also fantastic as the defense attorney that loses it and sets all of the events in the film into motion. He plays a great sympathetic crazy man that starts to seem not so crazy as the movie progresses.
I can’t reveal much without giving things away, but Gilroy’s script is deliberately paced and engaging, which weaves in and out of itself very easily while remaining clever and thought provoking. And the movie finishes on one of the best notes in a movie in a while, just a fantastic ending.
Anyways, if you’re looking for a great movie to go see, this is it. A great, adult drama that is well worth your 8 bucks for two hours.

[rating: 5/5]