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Title: Michael Clayton
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Though everyone in this world has a job, everyone in the world also has personal conflicts. And while “Michael Clayton” may primarily revolve around one man and his conflicts, the movie itself is filled with more conflicted characters then any other movie I’ve seen this year. There is Karen Crowder (Tilda Swedon), who is the president of a big corporation known as U-North, a company that specializes in fertilizer soil. She’s worked hard for her position, and nothing scares her more then the threat that she might someday lose her job. That threat becomes real when former attorney for U-North Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkenson) has a mental breakdown during a lawsuit hearing, and then follows his breakout by running around New York city in his birthday suit.
He’s maniac depressive, but he realizes that for years he’s been defending a product that has been responsible for causing many cancer related illnesses. This prompts Crowder to call in Michael Clayton (George Clooney) who is having personal problems with his son, and financial problems due to a gamble he took in the bar business. He lost that gamble and is now threatened with bankruptcy, and will take any case he can to raise money. It helps that Arthur is a friend, as friends protect friends. But there is too much at stake. Crowder fears the loss of her job should the company lose the lawsuit. Arthur is so guilt ridden that he’ll risk his own life to bring U-North down. Clayton spends the movie desperately trying to get the situation under control with no such luck.
Everyone is very emotional at the moment. None are willing to crack. Therefor the situation explodes with betrayals, conspiracies, and murder. Everyone has something to lose in this game, and Clayton is stuck in the middle, having the difficult task of sorting everything out. The story unfolds like a well told John Grism and Tom Clancy novel...only more exciting. Movies of this sort are a dime a dozen, but somehow the movie exceeds greatness from beginning to end. It’s work a kind of movie magic on you that is difficult to explain. I can praise the Oscar worthy performances, the spellbinding script, the haunting direction, to the clever use of the hypnotizing score. Yet none of my words would make much sense, and indeed, I don’t think they would do the film much justice.
This is a movie that could have been just like any of the other lawyer movies out there, but it’s in a league of it’s own, playing a game where we aren’t fully aware of how the rules effect the game play. Since we are unaware of how the rules effect the game though, it’s actually easier to get into the game because it has an undescribable charm to it. “Michael Clayton”is one of the best films of the year, and I’m at a loss for words as to why. I know it’s a good movie, but the reasons for why it’s a good movie just fail me. I guess you’ll just have to trust me on this one and take a leap of faith when you see this film. Just see it, you’ll love it.
- -Review By Kevin T. Rodriguez- -
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