Film - Michael Clayton (2007, Dir. Tony Gilroy)

Now, I like my actors to be able to play a wide range of roles, to show off their range, so to speak. Johnny Depp is a good example - he’s played a pirate (Pirates of The Caribbean), a drug smuggler (Blow), a sweet-factory owner (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), a drug addled journalist (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) and an undercover cop (Donnie Brasco). For me, George Clooney has until now, fallen into that category of actors that seem to play the same character, or type of character, in every film. To be fair, I haven’t seen Syriana, or Good Night and Good Luck, but in each film I’ve seen him in, he seems to play a relatively cool, together, smartly dressed man who is rarely seen as vulnerable or in a panic. I was getting pretty tired of it.

It was with these preconceptions that I went to see Michael Clayton, drawn not only by the trailer but by the reviews declaring this to be Clooney’s ‘best performance in years’ and so on. Clooney’s cause was not helped by the fact that these political thriller-type films are not my favourite and hence not ones I would usually seek out. But after watching All The President’s Men recently, I found myself with another reason to give the film a chance.

From the outset, it’s clear (as with most films of this genre) that paying attention is a must, as one slip in concentration can mean something later in the film not making any sense. It starts with the title character taking a routine job out in the sticks. He’s a ‘Janitor’, otherwise known as a ‘fixer’ or perhaps just ‘the man who can clean up whatever legal mess you’ve gotten yourself into this time’. The job on this particular occasion is irrelevant. It’s what happens while he’s in the middle of nowhere that sows the seeds for the rest of the film. Clayton looks like a tired man, physically and morally. He carries the look of a man who’s about to say ‘enough’ and turn his back on the whole thing. He luckily escapes a car bombing and it’s at this point we’re taken back to where the whole chain of events, which led to this attempt on his life, began.

He’s called in to contain a ‘situation’. The law firm he works for need him to bring a senior litigator, Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), into line after he goes quite spectacularly off the rails while representing the firm in a three-billion dollar law suit. However, Clayton isn’t the only one with his eyes on Edens and before long, the waters begin to muddy. With Edens seemingly switching sides and preparing a case against his own firm’s clients, Clayton has to juggle his increasingly stressful work with his complicated personal life. He has to make time to see his young son (who lives with his ex-wife), while struggling to pay off a $75,000 debt from his alcoholic brother’s failed bar business.

That’s the story out of the way, more about Clooney. As I’ve said, Clooney isn’t my favourite actor but there’s enough about him to keep me interested. With his performance in this film, he’s won me over some more. With his character saddled with incomparable stresses, Clooney pulls off a great portrayal of a man approaching a crossroads in both his personal and professional lives. Not here, the cool, sophisticated, sharp-talking Clooney character of old. Here’s a man whose face is drawn, sporting a days’ beard growth and scarred with nearly two decades of deflecting countless attacks on his employers. He’s a man who ultimately feels his actions go unappreciated, but can do little about it. While the character of Clayton must project a level persona, one that cannot be phased, it’s the little nuances in Clooney’s performance that betray what is going on beneath the surface. The despair, the helplessness and the struggle to keep a grip on what is going on around him. All these emotions are conveyed through Clooney’s subtle facial expressions and the delivery of the dialogue. In the hands of another actor, the character could easily have come across as bland, uncaring or, frankly, dull. Clooney, however, pulls the audience in immediately with his depiction of a character under incredible pressure and maintains it brilliantly throughout the film. As the credits begin to roll, the camera stays on Clayton, taking a taxi ride through New York, for about a minute. Here’s where the cracks could have appeared and a lesser actor may well have ruined it by ‘hamming it up’. Clooney, though, sticks vehemently to the traits that have made the character so absorbing throughout the film, letting the tiniest expressions tell the story rather than succumbing to the obvious.

I’ve not seen enough political thrillers to be able to say where this film rates in the genre. All I can say is that Clooney’s performance, coupled with a good script and tight directing, had me wishing the film would carry on, at least just a while longer – that’s something I’ve never wanted from a George Clooney film, until now.