Michael Clayton Review

"Michael Clayton" stars George Clooney as, er, Michael Clayton, a lawyer at a high-powered firm who is known for clearing up the messes that no-one else can handle. When his colleague Arthur (Tom Wilkinson) dies in mysterious circumstances, Michael suspects foul play, especially when it turns out that Arthur had been working against the interests of chemical company U/North, one of the firm's most lucrative clients. Meanwhile, as Michael edges closer to the truth, U/North's expert litigator Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton) begins to crack under the strain of seeing the case through to its desired conclusion.

For a film with a suspected murder in it, "Michael Clayton" is a remarkably un-thrilling thriller. Instead, writer-director Tony Gilroy maintains a slow-burning pace throughout, though a foregrounded car explosion at least lets you know that it's headed somewhere exciting eventually.

Clooney is dependably superb as always, lending Clayton a world-weary tiredness that subtly suggests the physical toll taken on a man who is finally beginning to question the ethical nature of what he does for a living. Tilda Swinton is equally good (particularly as the cracks start to show) and there's strong support from Tom Wilkinson and from Sydney Pollack as Clayton's boss.

Gilroy orchestrates some superb scenes and a couple of genuine surprises, most notably during a break-in sequence. However, the film moves painfully slowly in places and ultimately it works better as a sort of moral character study than it does as a thriller, exploding car or no exploding car.