Michael Clayton (2007)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Michael ClaytonAs much as detailed it is, the feature wanders off onto surface where even though character has offered enough range and room to fill in, it still feels disconnected somewhat. The writing is witty especially on the protagonist for it is portrayed to have potential and superior than any other characters and still it goes into its desperate and vulnerable zone that helps ground the feature. Tony Gilroy; the writer-director, has done some appreciative research and work in this project which pays off well in here. George Clooney has done a decent work in it and is supported with a great cast like Tilda Swinton and Tom Wilkinson. Michael Clayton peeps into the whole "law" world and manages to make it more from it and if it had gripping screenplay, the feature would have easily entered major league.

Maudlin, incomprehensible, slow. I'm sorry I paid for this movie.

This is one of the most intelligent thrillers you are ever going to see on film. Michael Clayton is one of my favorite films of all time. The line-up of all star actors should make this movie a clinic for anyone even thinking about acting. The writing is so precise that even the off-hand dialogue is remarkable. Just listen to the phone conversations and the comments people make to off screen characters.I can guarantee that you won't find a thriller with such a well developed protagonist as this movie and the director does it by saying so little. We have the briefest glimpse of Michael's relationship to his family yet it says a lot about him. The same is true of the bond between he and his boss played by Sydney Pollack who is at least as good of an actor as he was a director, and he was a great director. He is fabulous in this film.Tom Wilkinson really landed on my radar with the role he has here. I'm sure that I'd seen him before but I never paid much attention to actors' names.The story is told in jerky cutbacks. I've now seen the movie so many times that I can't remember how this affected me on the first viewing. Now that I just saw it for the umpteenth time I think that the storyline is brilliant.There are so many iconic and memorable scenes in Michael Clayton it's almost impossible to list them all without just going from beginning to end and writing them all down. The card game scene is creepy and you just know that this sort of sordid action really happens in NY. The part where Michael goes to the rich a-hole's house about the hit and run is riveting.The ultra-creepy corporate snuff squad that is called in to fix the problem was, for me, one of the most compelling aspects of the movie, and that's saying a lot because I loved so many things.The ending is so electrifying and satisfying that it's hard for me to think of another movie that rates this high on endings. Breaking Bad takes the cake in this department but Michael Clayton is right up there.

There aren't many movies that I enjoy watching twice or more, this is certainly one of them. This is in the running to be my favorite movie of all time. This movie can be hard to follow, and can seem vulgar at times, but in reality the dialogue has a higher purpose: to illustrate how we can get lost in our personal objectives and lose track of the bigger picture. The majority of characters in this movie don't fall into the "good guy", "bad guy" category, they are various shades of gray, just like real people. If one puts themselves in the shoes of the characters, their actions are plausible and consistent with reality. If you don't want to have your brain challenged by a time-line that bounces around and a complicated story that requires the viewer to put the pieces together you might want to save this for another night, but don't miss it, it's an incredible piece of writing and filmmaking.