Michael Clayton Review

Tony Gilroy, screenwriter extraordinaire of the Bourne movies, opens his directorial debut with an odd sort of tension: off screen, Tom Wilkinson rambles through a manic, rapid monologue about corruption and greed, while the camera lingers on scenes from an empty office building: boardrooms, florescent lights, and blinking phone lines.

It's spare, but it's moody and atmospheric- an encapsulation of the artful tension the rest of Michael Clayton maintains so well. A few minutes after the plot proper starts, George Clooney's titular hero is driving along a wooded road when he sees something, and gets out of his car too look. He walks up a hillside to approach three horses, standing idly by the highway, for no apparent reason.

The music hums to an autumnal swell, and you wonder, briefly, if this is a movie about the power of nature to enrich our lives.

Then his car explodes.

It's a punch to the gut, and it's a great moment to involve you in a legal thriller that on paper is pretty standard: A class action lawsuit is being filed against a mega-corporation for causing health problems with some sort of pesticide (or something)- Wilkinson is the head of the defense who buckles under the strain of fighting on the side of true villainy, and Clooney the shadowy "fixer" from his firm assigned to reign him in.

Tilda Swinton delivers a strong turn as the nervously ruthless legal head of the evil corporation, who must decide how far to go to protect her company. All three performances are stellar, but Clooney especially shines as he shuts down his breezy persona to exude weariness and anger: anger at compromise, anger at his thankless job, and anger that his life might have to be in danger before he considers doing the right thing.

After a tense climactic confrontation, the film ends with a uniquely perfect credit sequence: a single, minutes long shot inside a taxicab that allows everyone to relax, finally. It isn't until everything is over that you realize you've been holding your breath the whole time.

When to See it: As Soon As Humanly Possible.