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After being nominated for 7 Academy Awards and being praised so highly, I figured it was time to check out Tony Gilroy's mega-hyped Michael Clayton as it made a second round in local theaters. Anticipating interest due to its Oscar hype, Michael Clayton has been given an extended stay in theaters.

Michael Clayton works on a level that assaults our sense of paranoia. Setting up images and events early on in the film that later play into our fears of the inevitable, the movie traces 4 days in the life of Michael Clayton (George Clooney). Stuck at the same job in practically the same position, Clayton leads a life of atypical routine. He's a "fixer," a "janitor" for a large law firm. That means his job is to clean up the mess that his firm's clients leave behind.


We see one of these messes as the film opens. After leaving an underground card game, Clayton quickly drives to upstate New York to help a large client who hit a pedestrian--and drove away. Our first introduction shows Clooney at his most disheveled, at his most haphazard. I was impressed with how worn and tired he made his character appear; even more so, this tiresome attitude and appearance only seemed to exponentially increase over the course of the story. He's annoyed with this client, who seems to think that a hit and run by the driver of an expensive (and customized) BMW is not really a big deal. But the pain and annoyance we see has a motivation we don't understand.

The movies flashbacks to four days prior. Clayton receives a call from his boss and head partner, Barry Grissom (a very suitable Michael O'Keefe). A longtime friend of Clayton, Arthur Edens (a powerhouse performance from Tom Wilkinson), has had a mental breakdown while working on a very important case defending a multi-billionaire corporation, U-North.  Clayton is called because this is simply another mess that needs to be cleaned up and no one knows Edens better than Michael Clayton. He meets with Edens. He meets with those on the prosecution. And he meets with the desperate Karen Crowder (a glorious Tilda Swinton), one of the head directors of the firm Edens works for. She is a woman who appears sure and confident on the outside, but is a nervous wreck who dances in front of mirrors, reciting possible conversations like a teenage girl preparing to ask out the quarterback out to Sadie Hawkins.  


At heart, Michael Clayton is a movie about ethics, both personal and legal, and the morality that surrounds them. As Clayton begins to find out what exactly caused his buddy Edens to strip naked at a deposition and profess his love to one of the prosecution's 275+ witnesses, he is forced to face some terrifying decisions. Is Edens' breakdown a result of him refusing to take his medication? Or does Eden truly believe that his life, this specific case, and his morality to be reprehensible? Is it possible to truly be on "the wrong side"?

But to further expound upon these issues, the events of film force Michael Clayton to look at his own life, which is in disarray. At times, he's a disinterested father. His restaurant has fallen apart and he owes $75,000 to a crime boss. His brother has abandoned him and his life is ripping at the seams. Why is it that he is paid to fix other people's mistakes but he can't address his own?


The performances in this film are top notch. From Tom Wilkinson's electrifying opening monologue to the subtle twitches in George Clooney's face to Tilda Swinton's terrified, sweaty paranoia, this is a group of actors consumed in the characters they play. Very quickly, they assert themselves as these people, not actors, with their own motivations and fears.

I've stayed away from analyzing the story too much on purpose; it's a slow, calculating thriller that builds to a fever pitch with an ending that left me breathless. As I said before, the film relies on a sense of mounting paranoia. Director Tony Gilroy must be praised for presenting this story in this order, with these people, and with a subtlety and intelligence most directors would have thrown aside for flashy action sequences or garnishing plot twists with dramatic bangs of music.

I'm reminded of one of my favorite films of all time: Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation. Both films are heavily drenched in a long-standing and slow-building paranoia and deal with characters who are placed in moral dilemmas with the ramifications of what they do for a job. The similarities aren't glaring and Henry Caul (Gene Hackman) isn't the same as Clooney's Michael Clayton, and that's why this film, a welcome addition (and homage) to 70s paranoid thrillers, is so engrossing and so impressive. Unlike Henry Caul, Michael Clayton isn't as reluctant or paranoid himself. We're the paranoid character in this film, as Tony Gilroy slips us pieces of the story bit by bit, preying on our growing desire to know more.

The film's final moments, however, are what really makes this such an Oscar-worthy piece of cinema. Not only is the psychological pay-off huge, but we're treated to an intelligent character development: Michael Clayton, who has spent 17 years fixing everyone else's problem, finally turns within to clean up the mess he has made.


Michael Clayton is currently in theaters now and is nominated for 7 Academy Awards. I highly recommend seeing this movie as soon as possible.