Quick Review: Michael Clayton

You know how old timers always look back fondly on the Cary Grants and Bogarts of yesteryear, that’s the way I feel about George Clooney. The man is a star and always will be. Anything he touches becomes instantly watchable whether it’s an old Facts of Life rerun, an episode of ER, or one of the worst comic book movies ever, Batman and Robin. Good or bad Clooney has a presence on and off screen that endears him to audiences world wide and for lack of a better word I think it’s due to star power. However unlike many of his contemporaries who are content to fill bat-suits and ham it up for the camera, Clooney balances his time not only between directing and acting but also by alternating between box office flicks like Ocean’s 13 and films like his latest Michael Clayton in which he gives one of his finest performances to date. Sure the Clooney swagger is still apparent in the title character but so is a vulnerability and pain that Clooney rarely shows on screen. His cocksure fixer walks a moral tightrope throughout the film as he deals with his morally bankrupt law firm and their even more dubious client. Its hard to talk too much about the plot since in truth the film is a thinking thriller that deals a few surprises here and there but writer/director Tony Gilroy has crafted a script that blends drama and suspense in such a way that I’ve rarely seen. As a first time director you can see the influence Paul Greengrass had on Gilroy when he wrote the last two Bourne movies that Greengrass did, and truly there’s no better director to be influenced by visually in today’s filmscape. The rest of the cast all brings their A game and if the underappreciated Tilda Swinton does not receive an Oscar nod for her portrayal of the clients head of legal, then it will truly be an outrage. Swinton takes a character that is a paint by numbers villain and imbues her with something bordering on sympathy. It’s a magnificent turn and one that overshadows Clooney’s own Oscar worthy performance. As we turn towards award season Michael Clayton is the first Fall film that I can say I not only enjoyed but that I expect and hope is represented well at Oscar time.