Doing too much to please the boss
Shot like a monochromatic Michael Mann movie, Michael Clayton puts us in the company of the titular legal “janitor” played by George Clooney, who apart from cleaning up his clients’ dirty little secrets, also has to deal with messes of his own. But the case that requires his immediate attention is Arthur Edens’ (Tom Wilkinson), a prominent figure in Clayton’s firm and defense lawyer for conglomerate U/North who is being sued for approving toxic, unsafe products. Edens’ recent erratic behaviour nearly jeopardises U/North’s case, but Clayton has dealt with Edens’ problem before. However, U/North counsel Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton) doesn’t feel reassured by the arrangement, and starts taking matters into her own hands.
Like the other Oscar contenders (save for There Will Be Blood), Clayton is also another not-entirely-original, genre picture, but one that is crafted with more skill than usual. Like The Firm and The Insider, Big Business is at it again, and it’s up to the inside man to bring the establishment down. It’s automatically less compelling than The Insider because it’s not a true story, but builds its suspense better since its ending isn’t widespread public knowledge.
Clayton also goes against clichés to keep us guessing what’s next. The “hero” is not even remotely sympathetic to U/North’s victims; after all what’s a few more innocent lives when you think about those he has already ruined in his fifteen years of “janitorial” work? And the “villain” isn’t even someone with an evil master plan or a sadistic streak, just an executive who got a little too overzealous in impressing her employers. Sadly, the finale succumbed to an outdated thriller convention and wrapped things up a little too neatly. But it’s still a satisfying close though, thanks to the performance of the lead actors.
I thought cinema-goers would avoid Michael Clayton thinking it’s some incomprehensible, artistic bore of a movie. But after witnessing the overwhelming post-Oscar turnout at GV Vivocity (which I didn’t anticipate and was duly penalised for with my first front-row seating in years), maybe times are changing. - BMF
Written and directed by Tony Gilroy (The Bourne Ultimatum, The Bourne Supremacy). Stars George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson and Sydney Pollack. |
