Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
3.5/4
Never f**k with someone who's a relible fixer.
Indyfreak - wrote on 09/01/2014
Michael Clayton is a great recent example of that increasingly rare film that is entertaining thanks not to special effects or explosions or action sequences but dialogue and character development. When we first meet all the important characters, we have little idea of how things will turn out for them or what moral stance they'd take in the end, if any. It wastes little to none of its two hour running time. Few movies do this sort of thing anymore. It's unfortunate that this movie lost Best Original Screenplay to some hipster fluff about teen pregnancy. Paradoxically, it's little that we've seen before but it's so intelligently crafted and masterfully directed that it just seems so much more deserving. And yes, the acting is outstanding all across the board as well.
Rating of
2.5/4
Michael Clayton review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 10/29/2012
A typical overrated slow-burner such as No Country for Old Men which was hyped in the Academy Awards. Films such as Godfather II, Magnolia, JFK, All The Presidents Men, Incendies (list goes on as mentioned in one of the one's this rater has created) were lengthy but each scene from start to finish were engaging, detailed and entertaining. Michael Clayton is a "fixer" of a law firm and discovers the real story of the class action lawsuit against U-North, an agricultural products conglomerate. The Insider was even better than this this with the similar process (but involved the tobacco giants and effects of their products). Wilkinson was evidently better than Clooney on this picture and should have been praised. Oftentimes the Oscar's prove wrong, this is one of them depending on …
Rating of
3.5/4
"Michael Clayton" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 03/31/2012
Michael Clayton is an ex-ADA who now works as a fixer for a corporate law firm. When his old friend and mentor seemingly has a psychological break while defending another corporate giant he is called in to "handle" the situation. I must admit that this film had me hooked right from the incredibly intense monologue from Tom Wilkinson that opens the film. It plays out like a corporate Cold War film; the fact is that the plot will be very familiar to anyone who has seen a few legal dramas and the conclusion has a definite air of inevitability about it. But it's the journey there that makes it so worthwhile. Wilkinson is superb as the corporate slave who has a life changing catharsis, as is Clooney as the complex and morally ambiguous Clayton and Tilda Swinton as the immoral but anxiety …
Rating of
3/4
Astute and Consistent
Franz Patrick - wrote on 07/08/2008
I truly wanted to like it more than I did because its dark tone is pitch-perfect, the script is stellar, and the characters are fascinating. In the end, I must admit, I needed that extra "oomph" that could make my heart race. I didn't get it so I was somewhat disappointed. The closest it came to was the last twenty minutes because everything seemed to be at stake. George Clooney continues his streak of making interesting political films. Tilda Swinton is smart and conniving and I loved her for it (I believe she didn't deserve an Oscar for her work here... but I do believe that she deserved an Oscar for her overall body of work in films after all these years!). Tom Wilkinson shines here because everything he said was executed with such grace and power. Watching him on screen was an …
Rating of
4/4
Not your typical whistleblower movie
patjohnson76 - wrote on 01/27/2008
One of the most engrossing movies of the past year, Michael Clayton is the story of Clayton (Clooney), a lawyer who serves as a "fixer" for a firm involved in a huge class action lawsuit. When one of his colleagues Arthur (Wilkinson) goes bonkers in a deposition, Clayton is sent to fix the damage. Upon further investigation, Clooney learns that Arthur was actually building a case against his client for the plantiffs, and the information he has is absolutely damaging. Swinton plays the lead counsel for the corporation who takes matters into her own hands when she learns of the damaging information.
The movie shows how Clayton learns of all of this and tries to catch up and set things right. The performances are great all around and the film builds to an extremely satisfying …
Rating of
2.5/4
Review - Michael Clayton (2007)
Delorted - wrote on 01/09/2008
Michael Clayton (George Clooney) only stayed with his law firm because he had no financial choice, but when he finds out that his own partners are corrupt, he has to try and save the day in "Michael Clayton."
I've never been a huge fan of George Clooney, but this is one of his better role, even if it's such a bland one. I've seen movies before that were in no way exciting, but this one takes that to a new level. The thing is, they do it really well. It's the only time I thought boring worked in a movie.
That being said, most people will hate this movie. The mood is extremely solemn. It feels almost like a made-for-TV movie, especially the music. Incidentally, I'd probably think it was a lot better if it had been made for TV.
"Michael Clayton" works on some levels, but mostly …
Rating of
2/4
2 hour movie feels like 3 hour movie
Nick - wrote on 10/14/2007
Going into this movie, I could not remember what the plot even was. Which can be a very good thing because nothing is given away about the movie. But I have to admit, it was a little hard to understand what was going on. And what I mean by that is, not the overall jist of the movie, that was easy. But other parts of the moive like Michael Clayton's resturauant. What was up with that? I feel like I must of missed a scene of the moive cause I had no idea how that tied in. And Michael Clayton's kid, he was in a lot of the movie, but had nothing to do with the movie. I feel like the movie was edited down to 2 hours because they knew it would feel more like 3 hours watching it, and in doing so, lost a lot of the story. What makes this a good movie is the acting and the overall story …
Rating of
3.5/4
One of the most intelligent films of the year
newmans_own - wrote on 10/14/2007
The script has a tendency to overemphasize several themes. Most lines that take longer than ten seconds to deliver are morphed into long speeches filled with quick-paced wordplay and lots and lots of underlying meaning. The character of Michael’s son seems there only to ramble on about a book that seems to connect to everyone else’s life in some way or another. And in an effort to inject some suspense and confusion in the viewer, the prologue takes place four days into the film’s plot. While it does successfully create a sense of disorientation (as in the best paranoia thrillers), the sequence becomes rather tedious and ineffective when the film returns to it.
But the film is bolstered by strong performances all around. As the titular character, Clooney strips himself of …
