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Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton

by Kathryn Durfee
10/13/2007

A shady card game. A hit and run. An early morning drive on a deserted road. Three mysterious horses and an exploding car. These are the first glimpses we get into Michael Clayton's life. We then flash back to four days earlier.

Director Tony Gilroy's new film Michael Clayton is an intriguing view into the dark side of the deals big companies make and the frightening lengths to which they will go in order to keep the truth hidden. Shocking, but this is not the latest film version of a John Grisham novel.

Michael Clayton, played by George Clooney, is a middle-aged lawyer who has spent the last fifteen years working as a "fixer" for a massive New York law firm run by Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack). When cases get messy, Clayton is called in to clear them up. Ironically, he has plenty of his own personal and professional problems including debt, a gambling problem, and a seemingly dead-end career.

When old friend and colleague Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson) begins suffering from manic depression due to the truth behind the case he's been working tirelessly on for over six years, he acts out by stripping off his clothes in a deposition. Bach sends Clayton in to clean up the mess.

Working with Edens, Clayton learns more and more about the case: the defendants are blaming uNorth, a manufacturer of pesticides, for creating a cancer-causing pollutant. Clayton discovers through Edens' work that the defendants are right and that his firm is on the wrong side of the case.

Clayton is not the only person trying to cover for Edens, however. Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton), the chief legal executive for uNorth has witnessed Edens' unprofessional behavior and will do almost anything to protect her status and the reputation of her company. Both Edens and Clayton are targeted by the corporation because of what they know.

To sum up, uNorth is being sued for billions and is guilty. The law firm knows uNorth is guilty but is making incredible sums of money by defending it. Now, both are threatened by Edens, who knows the truth and is just crazy enough to go public with it.

As can be guessed from the title, the main focus of the film is Clayton's life and loyalties. The film fits nicely in the legal thriller genre, taking a seat beside films such as A Civil Action and The Firm.

This is Gilroy's directing debut, though he has a long list of successful screenplays to his name: the Bourne trilogy, Delores Claiborne, Proof of Life, and The Devil's Advocate in addition to the script for Michael Clayton. He here chooses to work with the cinematographer Robert Elswit (Syriana and Good Night and Good Luck). Together they favor a classical editing and staging style rather than the hand-held and fast-paced styles used for the Bourne trilogy. Instead of creating an action film, Gilroy crafts an intricate tale surrounding the tensions between personal loyalties and corporate interests.

As intriguing as the story is, I can safely say that without such expert casting, the film might not work as well as it does. Pollack, Clooney, Wilkinson and Swinton flawlessly portray their respective roles in the story. Though the film focuses mainly on Clooney's character, we are also given glimpses of the frightened and threatened Crowder (Swinton), who is clearly in over her head. Wilkinson is at times threatening, at times frightened, and at times childlike as the bipolar Edens. Without such a stellar cast, this film could have been played off as a made-for-TV movie.

My only complaint about Clayton is that it felt a bit too long. Running at exactly two hours, Clayton drags at points. This feeling may be a result of being inundated with the swooping cameras and the fast cuts used in contemporary action films, but I feel that Clayton might have benefited from a slightly faster pace.

Overall, Clayton is a must-see for lovers of the genre, fans of the actors, or anyone who wants to see a well-crafted story realized nearly flawlessly. Michael Clayton doesn't seem to have much going for him, but when he inadvertently gets involved in a massive cover-up, he stands up for what he believes in even though it puts his life in danger.

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