Michael Clayton

Michael Clayton (2007)
Director: Tony Gilroy
Screenwriter: Tony Gilroy

Michael Clayton broke down the boundaries of typical lawyer drama, courtroom films. I was expecting a film that would be full of courtroom scenes and lawyers arguing on who gets what case. Most lawyer films, not all, have a tendency to make the final battle between the protagonist and the antagonist in the courtroom. Honestly, I’m sick of seeing that same scene over and over again. Every lawyer film can’t be as great as To Kill A Mockingbird and every lawyer can’t be self-obsessed. I’m incredibly pleased that Michael Clayton exceeded my expectations.
The beginning starts with a voiceover from Arthur Edens played by a brilliant Tom Wilkinson. He’s in a tyrant over something that is bothering him and whatever it is, the world needs to know. As he’s talking the camera goes through the corridors of a firm and then he stops talking once a bunch of workers are seen together about this “big” secret. Marty Bach portrayed by Sydney Pollack is on the phone with a reporter asking him about his opinion on this case that the audience doesn’t know about yet. At first it was annoying me that Gilroy wanted to leave the audience in the dark on this mystery case but I realized that was the creative device that made me want to watch more. The beginning really took me for a loop because I had know clue what was going on. Then, we finally meet Michael Clayton portrayed by George Clooney and I believe this was the best character he’s ever played. Michael is driving near the snowy woods and he gets out of his car. On a hill these horses mesmerize him as he walks closer and closer to them. Gilroy did a tremendous job of foreshadowing something big was going to happen. The three horses all had this sad look on their faces as if they knew trouble was brewing. Two of the horses didn’t face Michael and the only one horse faced him. It was incredible how these horses interacted with Michael. Michael tears up, which showed me that he was obviously in a rock and hard place. Then, Michael’s car blows up. From that moment of the film, I was hooked.
The story begins from four days earlier and Gilroy does an incredible job telling a story that happens over the course of four days and the aftermath of Michael’s car being bombed. Michael is asked to advise the senior litigator of Michael’s firm Arthur Edens. A manic depressive who lives in a child-like world that only his pills can bring him back to reality and Michael is given the job to make sure Arthur stays sane after he strips naked in a disposition. Arthur develops this odd fascination with a young lady who’s apart of a major lawsuit, which the audience still doesn’t know about. As the viewer, all we know that this lawsuit could potentially ruin this firm forever. Michael is labeled as the “bagman” and “the fixer” because he cleans and fixes everyone’s problems. Arthur’s guilt is killing him and he wants Michael to reveal that the firm is trying to protect a company’s (UNorth) pesticide that caused serious human tissue damage and cancer in thousands of people. Michael still doesn’t know but it is only assumed when Karen Crowder played by Tilda Swinton orders the death of Arthur and Michael. One man dies and one sees the light of truth.
Michael deals with being a father, having an estranged brother, being in debt, and having a career role that he doesn’t necessarily want. George Clooney exhibited a character that had all of the intelligence and maturity of great lawyer but allowed people to take advantage of him. The fact that Michael took it upon himself to clean up people’s law “mess” made him like a prostitute being sold for his worth and the pleasure he gave to law bending citizens. His character arc showed a man who finally admitted to himself that he was fixing everyone else’s problems but his own. I believe this was Clooney’s best role because he made a complex character easier to understand and he made Michael relatable. Sometimes characters with not “everyday” jobs like a waiter or a secretary are not easy to understand because not everyone will be a lawyer. Most films portray lawyers to be obsessed with winning cases and nothing else matters, by the end of the film they realize winning isn’t everything. That is way too typical. Michael Clayton was a surprisingly engaging film from the beginning to the end and, contrary to belief, this film wasn’t overrated. If you don’t want to tune into an archetypal lawyer film where 50% of the film takes place in a courtroom, I highly suggest this film. Michael Clayton delves into the psyche of a lawyer and the guilt most lawyers conceal when they take on cases that are not only incriminating but morally disgusting.