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When the leaves start falling, moviegoers know that it’s once again time for scandal. No, I’m not talking about Britney Spears or any other Hollywood train wreck. I’m talking about the movies. It seems like during the fall—the time that’s typically reserved for the Oscar hopefuls—there’s nothing Hollywood loves more than a good scandal movie. Bring on the political corruption and crooked cops, environmental pollution, and a good cover-up or two! And it seems as though, lately, no one does a fall scandal drama better than George Clooney.
In his latest Oscar-buzzed drama, Michael Clayton, Clooney takes a break from the usual political corruption drama and takes on corporate corruption instead. He stars as the film’s title character, an in-house “fixer” for a major New York law firm. His job is to jump in and clean up messy situations for the firm—and for their valued clients. But when his friend and colleague, Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), has a total breakdown during a deposition in Minnesota, Michael finds himself in the middle of a mess that’s not so easy to clean up.
After years of working to defend his client in a major class-action suit, Arthur uncovers information that points to his client’s guilt—information that’s been carefully covered up—and he realizes that he just can’t keep working for them. But his sudden erratic behavior captures the attention of the client’s legal director, Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton), who calls in a couple of her own fixers to take care of the problem.
Michael Clayton boasts an exceptionally talented cast—all of whom skillfully deliver their smart and well-written lines. And Clooney is brilliant, as he almost always is, as the fixer who can’t fix his own problems. But, despite all the talent and the strong performances and the great writing, I just couldn’t get into the story. Parts of it are interesting, but there’s nothing especially gripping about it—nor is there anything especially new or unusual. It’s pretty much your standard corporate corruption film—only with less action and suspense.
Clayton is a rather intriguing character—one who clearly has plenty of baggage—but viewers are kept at an arm’s length. We’re told about his gambling problem…and his failed business…and his addict brother…and his part-time relationship with his son. But none of it is really fleshed out. And the same is true for the rest of the characters—they’re intriguing in their own way, but you don’t really get to know enough about them to be totally absorbed in their story.
Perhaps the problem is that Michael Clayton just isn’t what I expected from a fall release starring George Clooney. I expected a strong, intense drama that poses some sort of ethical challenge—one that will have viewers debating for days. Instead, I got a well-written and superbly-acted but rather run-of-the-mill corporate drama that seems to plod along until it ends, almost exactly as you’d expect it to. Technically, it’s all done very well—but the story is neither thrilling enough nor thought-provoking enough (nor is it scandalous enough) to make it a must-see.
DVD Review:
Okay, so here’s where I’m supposed to discuss the Michael Clayton DVD and all the fascinating features it has to offer—but the features are few and far between. That’s pretty surprising—especially when you consider that Michael Clayton was nominated for seven Oscars. You’d think there would be all kinds of behind-the-scenes footage and making-of features. Instead, there’s the standard audio commentary, featuring writer/director Tony Gilroy and his brother and editor, John Gilroy. Also included on the disc are three deleted scenes, which you can watch with or without audio commentary. Granted, two of the deleted scenes are pretty interesting—and they actually help to develop Michael Clayton as a character. But it’s not exactly worth heading out and buying the DVD for a couple of extra scenes.
So if you loved Michael Clayton when you saw it on the big screen, by all means, pick up the DVD. Just don’t expect to gain a whole lot of insight into the movie by watching the special features.
