Michael Clayton

The titular protagonist of Michael Clayton is a self described janitor. Played by George Clooney, Clayton is calm and cool and not afraid to tell a desperate client exactly what his options are. As a fixer for a major law film he is probably one of their single most important assets although he isn't always treated as such.

But all this does not mean life is grand for Michael. He has a history of gambling addiction, a failed business and a loan shark demanding payment. He is balancing a problematic relationship with his brother and a strained relationship with his son with a job that always seems to come first.

Michael is called in to deal with the most recent headache for the film. One of its lead attorneys who is heading the defense of a lucrative class action law suit has been arrested for stripping naked during a deposition. Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson) has gone off his meds and is ranting about how evil his client is.

Michael is pressed by the need to do his job and the desire to help Arthur, his friend. Complicating this all is a law firm that can't afford to have the deal go bad and Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton), a legal counsel for the accused company who has fears for her own job security. The ins and outs of the story's well constucted plot, I won't reveal because of course watching it develop is fascinating. Suffice to say it deals with the dirty underbelly of American business practice familiar to anyone who has read headlines about Enron and the like.

Clooney is methodical in every scene. Its never a stretch to believe a guy so on top of his game when it comes to his job could be living a life so completely in shambles. In an interesting parallel, Swinton too represents a character desperately trying to balance her own problems with the cool confidence her job demands. And finally Wilkinson who perhaps crazy from mental illness or from being fed up plays Arthur so firmly on the line between the two that its difficult to judge.

It is these detailed characters and the actors behind them that carries this story effectively. The direction is tight without any scenes that feel unnecessary. It does quite a good job of showing what a legal thriller can be without crossing the line into the absurd or conspiracy theorist mode of storytelling.