Michael Clayton

I put off watching this DVD for a couple of weeks because the wife intended to watch it with me. That never happened and in the end she didn't miss much.
Michael Clayton is a movie about a lawyer whose position in a big New York law firm is as a fixer, a functional manipulator that helps partners and clients alike avoid entanglements. Written and directed by Tony Gilroy, this two hour long movie was released in the fall of 2007. This movie was Tony Gilroy's movie directorial debut, but he has worked extensively as a writer for movies such as The Cutting Edge, The Devil's Advocate. Deloris Claiborne and the Bourne series.
Amongst the actors were.......

• Tom Wilkinson as Arthur Edens, lead lawyer for the firm defending the weed killer manufacturer from a class action lawsuit.
• Michael O'Keefe as Barry Grissom, CFO partner in the firm and by his own admission, an asshole. O'Keefe has been around for years, but my favorite role for him was as the teen-aged golfer, Danny Noonan, in the the hilarious movie Caddyshack.
• Sydney Pollack as Marty Bach, the most senior partner in the firm, and comfortable with the firms defense of morally guilty client. This had to have been one of the Sydney's like times in front of the camera, before his recent passing.
• George Clooney as Michael Clayton, the man on the ground for the firm, getting lawyers out of trouble, getting clients out of trouble, by sometimes unethical. Clooney is well known, a fair enough actor and dick for thinking his political opinions are public consumption.

Here's the movie. The firm is defending a corporation in a class action suit that has lasted a decade. The firm has proof that the client was aware its product cause cancer and hid that fact from the complainants. This drives the lead lawyer mad to the point that he is about to reveal truth to the customer complainants. The firm has Arthur murdered to prevent this and aims the same for Michael. Michael, being the resourceful man that he is, escapes death and kills the pending settlement with exposure for all involved. The end.

This movie gets a score of 27 of 50, this one didn't do it for me. What do I know though, it did win one Oscar.

• Character development 5 of 10. Morally grey, Michael develops a conscience at the end.
• Screenplay 5 of 10. Sparing and clean.
• Acting 7 of 10. Good cast.
• Cinematography 5 of 10.
• Concept 5of 10.