For instance, a big client is involved in a hit-and-run, or bad stories in the press need smoothed out. Michael Clayton. Review: Michael Clayton. But George Clooney plays a different sort of. Many people have notions of what a 'fixer' may actually do, some see rubber gloves and cleaning up crime scenes, others may see smooth talking, good looking and suited up individuals who confidently go about their job as a sought after individual. Michael Clayton review. 4 Excellent. Film. Who better to play him than this most self-aware of actors? Clayton cleans up clients’ messes, handling anything from hit-and-runs and, Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is an in-house "fixer" at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York. I couldn't have liked it more. Michael Clayton is the directorial debut of Tony Gilroy, a longtime Hollywood screenwriter, who crafts a film that manages to keep you involved like a good thriller without providing many of the requisite elements: chases, shootouts and fisticuffs. The Best Movies of the 21st Century (So Far). Michael Clayton is a 2007 American legal thriller film written and directed by Tony Gilroy in his feature directorial debut and starring George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, and Sydney Pollack. By Total Film 28 September 2007. George Clooney does it again - Michael Clayton review by CP Customer. Erin Brockovich meets The Firm in the taut, character-driven legal drama Michael Clayton.In the title role, George Clooney is a “fixer” for a powerful New York City law … When he shows us Arthur Edens' loft, it has the same sort of chain-link enclosure that Gene Hackman's character had in "The Conversation," and they are the same kinds of characters: paranoid, in possession of damaging evidence, not as well protected as they think. Michael Clayton expects more from its audience than most motion pictures. Michael Clayton (2007) achieved an average score of 73% and has generally received positive reviews. But it does have enough of a melodramatic pulse to keep you engaged in its story and, better than that, it is full of plausible characters who are capable of surprising -- and surpassing -- your expectations. Michael Clayton, the directorial debut of screenwriter Tony Gilroy, belongs in the latter category. Fresh from scripting The Bourne Ultimatum, Tony Gilroy serves up this zesty, brainy chaser with his directorial bow. Summary: Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is an in-house "fixer" at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York. Review: Wonder Woman 1984 Pledges Allegiance to Hope and Familiar Tropes. Read Amber Wilkinson's DVD Review "Swinton’s magnificent juggling of callousness and vulnerability is the single best female performance I’ve seen all year." Michael Clayton is a here’s-how-it-happened drama, cleverly but not over-elaborately structured. DVD Reviews. It's the right look. At the behest of the firm’s co-founder Marty Bach, Clayton, a former prosecutor from a family of cops, takes care of Kenner, Bach & Ledeen’s dirtiest work. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. It's a smart and complex film that stays intriguing thanks to its strong cast and compelling story. Movie Review. George Clooney brings a slick, ruthless force to the title role of "Michael Clayton," playing a fixer for a powerful law firm. Riveting, humane and wonderfully constructed and performed. … Rated the #59 best film of 2007, and #4138 in the greatest all-time movies (according to RYM users). Review: Sylvie’s Love Has More Affection for an Era than for Its Characters. But discontented. Starring: Sydney Pollack, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, George Clooney. © 2021 METACRITIC, A RED VENTURES COMPANY. Summary: Another contender for the award season, surely, and a fantastic turn from Clooney. By Joe Lozito. Smart, mature legal thriller isn't meant for kids. This loving throwback to the paranoid thrillers of the ’70s is a beauty. If There Will Be Blood sports the best closing scene of 2007, then Michael Clayton certainly takes the gold for best film opener. We're invited to be seduced by the designer offices, the clubs, the cars, the clothes, the drinks, the perfect corporate worlds in which sometimes only the rest room provides a safe haven. It’s all fascinating. Acting and direction. A law firm brings in its "fixer" to remedy the situation after a lawyer has a breakdown while representing a chemical company that he knows is guilty in a multibillion-dollar class action suit. Overview - Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is an in-house 'fixer' at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York. The 20 Best Film Scenes of 2020 . Michael Clayton is a 2007 American legal thriller film written and directed by Tony Gilroy in his feature directorial debut and starring George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, and Sydney Pollack. One of them is his Frequent-Flyer-Mileage-loving-liquidator in "Up in the Air" and the other is the title character of "Michael Clayton", the subject of this review. Clayton is good at his job. Michael Clayton (2007) US/Can release: Oct 5 2007 UK/Ire release: Sep 28 2007 MPAA: rated R for language including some sexual dialogue BBFC: rated 15 (contains strong language, very strong language and sex references) viewed at a private screening with an audience of critics official site | IMDb more reviews: Movie Review Query Engine | Rotten Tomatoes Working with the great cinematographer Robert Elswit ("Syriana," "Good Night, and Good Luck," "Magnolia"), he uses stable, brooding establishing shots, measured editing that underlines the tension in conversations, and lighting that separates the fluorescent sterility of Clayton's business world from the warmth of family homes and the eerie quiet of a field at dawn. Review: Matteo Garrone’s Pinocchio Pays Dark and Quirky Homage to a Classic. Great movie came from a great script and Gilroy is one of the best. He shoots down their fantasies of "options." A-Z Archive. I don't know what vast significance "Michael Clayton" has (it involves deadly pollution but isn't a message movie). Review: Sylvie’s Love Has More Affection for an Era than for Its Characters. One client complains bitterly that he was told Clayton was a miracle worker. Michael Clayton Review. He works in the shadows, cleaning up messes, and he is a realist. Film Review: Michael Clayton Production: A Warner Bros. release presented in association with Samuels Media and Castle Rock Entertainment of a … Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is an in-house 'fixer'. We meet Clayton's family, we get a sense of the corporate culture he inhabits, we sense how controlling the risks of other people sends him to the poker tables to create and confront his own risks as sort of an antidote. Gilroy is an entertainer. In “Michael Clayton,” written and directed by Tony Gilroy, that conscience seems to have gone M.I.A., lost amid the dirty wheeling and dealing of a powerful New York law firm. "I'm a janitor.". Classification: 15 Director: Tony Gilroy. The choices the characters have to make are ridiculous and seem contrived to serve the weakly themed plot.