"MICHAEL CLAYTON"
Starring George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton
Released: Oct. 12, 2007

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THE OTHER DAY, I found myself conversing with a friend about films, and I brought up my interest in seeing “Michael Clayton.”

“No way,” he retorted, aghast. “It looks like ‘Erin Brockovich’ with dudes.’”

I shuddered at the thought. Legal dramas are the cinematic equivalent of playing with fire — even considerably skilled filmmakers can get burned. The proof is in the pudding, or the wasted celluloid, as the case may be.

Steven Soderbergh, who would go on to build a solid reputation and subsequently squander it by making two more of those “Ocean’s” movies, is a generally talented guy. He had made decent films before “Erin Brockovich” (“Sex, Lies and Videotape,” “Out of Sight”), and he certainly made decent films after it (“Traffic,” the “Solaris” remake).

But somewhere in between, a legal drama snuck into his catalogue and vomited all over his credibility both as a filmmaker smart enough to avoid sappy, self-righteous clichés and a person smart enough to avoid Julia Roberts’ phone calls.

Soderbergh and George Clooney, who plays the titular character in “Michael Clayton,” are about as tight a pair of friends as you can find in Hollywood. Being such good friends, we can probably assume that they talk about their feelings, including Soderbergh’s intense feeling of regret at having made such an intellectually repulsive movie. Therefore, we cannot be blamed for having faith that if George Clooney is in a legal drama, it’s at least going to be better than “Erin Brockovich” with dudes.

Well, I saw it, and I quite liked it. The premise is typical legal thriller stuff — Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), a key player for the corporate law firm Kenner, Bach & Leeden, experiences a crisis of conscience while defending agrochemical giant U/North from a lawsuit claiming that the corporation knowingly allowed the poisoning of hundreds of farm workers.

Edens, overwhelmed by his sense of guilt, stops taking his medication, suffers a severe nervous breakdown, and threatens to expose his clients’ dirty secrets. Now, this is all well and good, but the film isn’t called “Arthur Edens.” So who is “Michael Clayton”?

Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is the firm’s “fixer,” a self-described janitor of problems — and he’s supposed to make this go away. Michael’s higher-ups (including legendary director Sydney Pollack as the head of the firm) want the seemingly mentally unstable Edens committed in order to silence him. Arthur is Michael’s friend and close partner, making this an ethically trying task, even for a lawyer.

To boot, though he doesn’t know it, Michael is up against a far more ruthless and self-serving opponent in the race to make the Edens debacle disappear. Recently instated U/North chairwoman Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton), however, is not taking any risks, and she’s ready to take matters into her own hands if it will keep her corporation, and her hard-earned position at its head, from being exposed.

The trick with “Michael Clayton” is how aptly named it is. Unlike the aforementioned Steven Soderbergh picture and its ilk in the cinemas and on TV, this film isn’t about the good guys beating the bad guys. It isn’t about how awful corporations are. It’s about Michael Clayton — how he thinks and why he does what he does.

Instead of the external conflict, first-time director Tony Gilroy (writer of the “Bourne” films and “Proof of Life”) focuses his screenplay on internal conflict. As the film progresses, and we start to see Arthur’s madness as a sort of redemptive sanity in the film’s moral judgment, Michael grapples with his friend’s conscience — as well as his own.

This doesn’t come across as a trite morality play, due in large part to Gilroy’s subtle, restrained presentation and in even larger part to Clooney, who essentially powers the film along through what could have felt like familiar terrain.

I won’t pretend as if I’m saying anything original when I describe Clooney’s performance as the best of his increasingly outstanding career. His trademark effortless smugness naturally shows up in Michael’s mastery of dealing with obnoxious clients, and his pitch-perfect world weariness draws on his excellent turn in Soderbergh’s “Solaris” remake.

But in the end, Michael’s raw, unstable confusion at his own moral vacuum marks new territory for Clooney, who responds with a performance of subtlety and emotion unfiltered through words. Tom Wilkinson (“In the Bedroom”) and the effervescent Tilda Swinton give forceful, knockout performances, and serve as appropriate foils for Clooney’s steadily growing sense of reserved anguish.

Frankly, there isn’t much wrong with “Michael Clayton.” Gilroy’s sense of pacing seems a bit off at times, but it’s something I assume he’s going to improve on as he continues to direct. His screenplay is a high-tension, emotionally laced gem, and in its conversion to the screen Gilroy and his crew do an outstanding job of maintaining an air of gloom and hopelessness until just the right moment. His shots are technically flawless and often visually meaningful.

My one unshakeable problem with the film is that, as much as I’d like to think that an inspired film can take a tired concept and make it new again, there are points in “Michael Clayton” at which not even Clooney can keep the storyline from feeling like a John Grisham novel. All involved seem to do a great job of making up for it, but the conventionality of some of the major plot points is a problem that is never directly addressed by the filmmakers.

In the end, “Michael Clayton” is a successful exercise in the genre of the intellectual thriller, fueled by class technicians and performers at the top of their games. And Julia Roberts is nowhere to be found.

"Michael Clayton" is currently playing at the Goodrich Savoy 16 Theatres, 232 W. Burwash, Savoy, and the GKC Beverly 18, 910 Meijers Drive, Champaign.

"MICHAEL CLAYTON" AT A GLANCE

• Starring: George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, Sydney Pollack, Michael O'Keefe
• Directed by: Tony Gilroy
• Written by: Tony Gilroy
• Genre: Drama/Thriller
• Rated: R for language, including some sexual dialogue
• Runtime: 119 minutes
• Summary: George Clooney stars in the title role as a "fixer" for a major corporate law firm in New York. He specializes in cleaning up the firm's dirtiest, most difficult messes. He faces a crisis of conscience when he realizes his firm has been in the wrong on a significant case.
• Now showing: GKC Beverly 18, Goodrich Savoy 16
• Showtimes: Click here
• External sites: IMDb entry, official site
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