‘Michael Clayton’ is Adult Antidote to Torrent of Monotonous Gobbledygook

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CHICAGO – Don’t be fooled by its formulaic, Hollywoodspeak tagline.

“The truth can be adjusted” is the “Michael Clayton” way of saying this film has rammed in a whole hell of a lot more than you might first presume and is about to blindside you with everything a picture-perfect Hollywood product should be.

George Clooney in “Michael Clayton”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb
An opulent, all-star cast as in “The Departed” sometimes yields the film of the year. At other times, the failure of that resolve can make financiers suicidal.

In the case of “Michael Clayton,” writer/director Tony Gilroy weaves the commanding George Clooney, flawlessly fanatical (and sometimes streaking) Tom Wilkinson, tautly corporate Tilda Swinton and the always-on-top-of-his-game Sydney Pollack into a film that pays its weight in gold.

Tom Wilkinson in “Michael Clayton”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb
Executive producers Clooney, Steven Soderbergh, James Holt and Anthony Minghella either have it too easy or yet again know when lead is about to be fashioned into a mountain of bullion. Clooney himself carries the show in an exquisitely intricate story that ably pulls off the art of the circular plot.

Much in the same way “Pulp Fiction” starts with the end and circles back once the middle has been teemed in, Clooney in his inextricable role as a “fixer” of all things crooked plunges you into the wildly provocative world of corporate America.

Tilda Swinton in “Michael Clayton”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb
While I only have love for the hilarity of late from “Superbad,” “Knocked Up” and the like, the gravity of “Michael Clayton” – much like this year’s “Fracture” with Anthony Hopkins – is the adult antidote to a torrent of monotonous gobbledygook devoid of poignant messaging.

A serious film with a serious plot, serious actors and an imperative statement, I thank the film gods it’s wedged into 2007 history because the year would have been lacking without it.

The fictional agrochemical company U/North and its looming calamity is at the heart of the film, which opens limited on Friday and goes wide on Oct. 12. It doesn’t take much fantasizing for U/North to smack of similiar, real-life corporate behemoths.

Sydney Pollack in “Michael Clayton”.
Photo courtesy of IMDb
While you could imagine crisis litigation going much like this through the realization of a potentially deadly byproduct at the expense of silver linings and golden executive parachutes, “Michael Clayton” importantly brings into the limelight the U.S. corporate machine while mercilessly illuminating what happens in back alleys.

Though lawyers certainly get the bad wrap of being blood-sucking money fiends, it’s less realized that in a courtroom their primary role is as a well-studied actor. It’s the side that not only tells the truth but tells the better truth that ultimately wolfs down all the cake.

“I’m the guy you buy!” isn’t just a climatic line Clooney uses to slap Swinton upside her head. It’s actually the catastrophic revelation that high-powered suits can freely and dispassionately ride that train of thinking today and only sometimes get caught along the way.

By ADAM FENDELMAN Editor-in-Chief HollywoodChicago.com adam@hollywoodchicago.com

© 2007 Adam Fendelman, HollywoodChicago.com