Vintage

George Clooney as Michael Clayton is a worried man, rife with debt and a burden of stress he seems to be waiting to let down from his tired shoulders.   He may be Wall Street’s Gordon Gecko of problem solving, but he doesn’t seem to enjoy it.  He seems tired, looking for a break. 

He senses something is wrong with his life, but what?  He might be able to figure it out if it weren’t for the high-powered drama that is unfolding around him.  

Michael Clayton is a fix-it man for a high powered law firm that takes on a seedy chemical client, which seems fully aware it poisoned a bunch of people.  However, since 3 billion dollars hang in the sway, the company appears to have no qualms about purchasing the most expensive lawyers to make it all go away and if they can’t do it…   Well, that is where Michael Clayton comes in.

You see the firm’s senior litigator has enough of the bull and during a deposition of a homely down on the farm girl; he ups and strips down naked then runs out of the room into the parking lot.  It might go without saying he was off his meds that day, but we soon discover that though he was off his meds, he was on his conscience. 

He could no sit silently and represent a bunch of crooks, who knew full well they killed a bunch of people with some of their chemical products.    

The senior litigator, Arthur Edens, played admirably by Wilkinson, is taken in by a victim of the company’s crime and begins a correspondence with her.  He even goes so far as to get her a first class plane ticket to New York, where he planned on showing her his report of evidence that will spell the end of the chemical company.  But that never happens and if we tell you why, you might hate us for it. 

Secretly he begins amassing a bunch of evidence that will in a sense exonerate the plaintiff and spell ruin for the chemical company that hired his firm to represent the case.  This is where Michael Clayton (Clooney) is called in to work his janitorial service and clean up the mess left behind by his streaking lawyer friend. All the while, the sinister company begins tapping his phone and learning all they can about what he knows. 

So what does Clayton have to do?

Michael Clayton must bring in his pal Edens by convincing him to go on his medication and take a safer road out of the business, if that is what he wants, without trashing neither the reputation of their legal firm or that of the company they represent.  Easier said then done. 

Marty Bach (Pollack) the owner of the firm doesn’t have to spell out how the firm pays its rent and admits that the case stinks to high heaven and that Edens was probably on to something but so what?  The firm would be ruined if Edens distributes all the evidence he amassed to the contrary of the firm’s defense, not to mention a damning internal document that would cement the chemical company as guilty.  But, if Edens fowls things up the chemical company could claim legal malpractice and as Bach says, they would have to sell the furniture. 

At this point we must introduce the evil corporate climbing chemical company counsel, Karen Crowder (Swinton).  She has a lot to loose if Eden flips.  She just got promoted and she desperately wants to prove herself to the brass.  If they lost this case, it could spell the end. 

(Spoiler warning coming up)

She deliberates for a while and finally decides the best course of action is to kill Arthur Edens, something that is done coldly and efficiently.  In fact, the murder seems more real due primarily to the mundane methodical manner in which it was carried out. 

Meanwhile, Michael Clayton has learned too much about Edens’ death and even begins to guess he may have been right.  Now, Crowder turns her murderous designs on him.  They plan to have him carried out so to speak too. So they set out to take care of him with some car work he surely didn’t order on his Mercedes Benz.

The final climatic scene is classic face-off between two actors at the top of their games. 

All in all, this is a first class cover-up movie bent on carrying out a first rate crime.  Clooney may have achieved a signature performance here and hits the high note in every low undertone, disgruntled flash of the eyes, which Michael Clayton shows throughout the film.  Clooney rightly deserves a shot at Best Actor for this role.  The picture is solid cover-up fair. 

Clooney is excellently at ease as Michael Clayton.  Clayton is dressed well in every scene, but the looks of trouble show often from the beneath the facade of this fixer, gambler, and man finally discovering he cares about something. 

One scene that stands out is when Clayton confronts Edens in a New York back alley with a bunch of bread loaves.  Clooney is convinced the man is off his rocker and Edens doesn’t help with his eccentricities but the whole exchange is a top notch performance by two great actors, one as a leading man; the other as supporting.  Both are deserving of Oscar attention respectively. 

Credit must be given to the screenwriter on this effort as well.  Tony Gilroy, the screenwriter of "The Bourne" trilogy, brings an excellent script full of understated dialog and intense sequences that are brooding and focused.

The supporting cast, notably Wilkerson and Sydney Pollack add serious weight to this film.  This is a movie worthy of King status on CFz. 

Matthew J. DeReno is a writer living in Pittsburgh.