directed by Tony Gilroy
Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is a down on his luck corporate fixer. He is up to his ears in debt. He doesn't know where he is going to find the money to pay the debts. Michael is brought in to a case which seemed under control until Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), one of the lawyers at the prestigious law firm where Michael works, seemingly lost his mind while working on the biggest case that the firm has. Clayton's employer was working for U-North, a company that sells an agricultural product that is rumored to have killed hundreds of people.
Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton), the legal counsel for the U-North, is determined to keep Arthur from making things worse that they already are. She meets with Clayton and quickly determines that he isn't taking the case seriously. She finds others who are more in agreement with her as to the proper approach to this case.
Michael has his hands full between tracking down Arthur, looking after his son, and dealing with financial debts. Arthur becomes too much of a liability for Karen. Michael doesn't know it but he has been observed by some of her people. Michael unknowingly becomes a target.
This movie was Tony Gilroy's directorial debut. He had worked previously as a producer and writer of movies. He was nominated for but did not win an academy award for this movie. He has only directed two movies since this one.
George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, and Tom Wilkinson were nominated for academy awards for best actor, best supporting actress, and best supporting actor. Swinton was the only one to win. It was the only academy award that the movie won. It was nominated for a total of 7, including best picture.
I like the way this story is told. There are lots of aspects to it that work for me. It isn't terribly straight forward. It counts on the viewer's ability to put the pieces together. I think that it also uses ambiguity to cover for things that it doesn't want to take the time to explain.
This was my first time watching this movie. I couldn't stop watching it once I started. I had heard good things about it and I think they are for the most part warranted. It isn't a perfect movie. I'm not sure I would say that it is excellent but it is very well made and I enjoyed it very much. The performances by the lead actors has a lot to do with how I feel about it.
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