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Michael Clayton is one of the most sharply scripted films of 2007, with an engrossing premise and faultless acting. Director Tony Gilroy succeeds not only in capturing the audience's attention, but holding it until the credits roll.
All Critics (198) | Top Critics (46) | Fresh (179) | Rotten (19) | DVD (12)
[A] smoldering corporate thriller. Oct 18, 2008 | Full Review…
[A] smoldering corporate thriller.
Bob Mondello
Clooney's glamorous intelligence is deepened by his constant hints that slickness, like corporate integrity, is just an act. Feb 22, 2008 | Rating: B+ | Full Review…
Clooney's glamorous intelligence is deepened by his constant hints that slickness, like corporate integrity, is just an act.
Amy Nicholson
The film doesn't disappoint. It's an enveloping thriller with a cool intelligence, the kind of film Redford or Newman would have jumped at 15 or 20 years ago. Oct 26, 2007 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…
The film doesn't disappoint. It's an enveloping thriller with a cool intelligence, the kind of film Redford or Newman would have jumped at 15 or 20 years ago.
Paul Byrnes
Confident in the story's power and the moviegoers' intelligence, Gilroy uses only one explosion to own our rapt attention. Oct 13, 2007 | Rating: 3/4
Confident in the story's power and the moviegoers' intelligence, Gilroy uses only one explosion to own our rapt attention.
Lisa Kennedy
This doesn't begin to deserve the Oscar nominations it's likely to get, but I had a good time with it nonetheless. Oct 11, 2007 | Full Review…
This doesn't begin to deserve the Oscar nominations it's likely to get, but I had a good time with it nonetheless.
J. R. Jones
Smart and exciting, Michael Clayton takes the audience on a ride whose pleasures almost sneak up on you and are all the more satisfying because of it. Oct 11, 2007 | Rating: 4.5/5 | Full Review…
Smart and exciting, Michael Clayton takes the audience on a ride whose pleasures almost sneak up on you and are all the more satisfying because of it.
Bill Goodykoontz
The storytelling is so good I simply got caught up, and, as for George, he is seriously, seriously good... Here, his performance is passionate, subtle and right on the money. Aug 22, 2018 | Full Review…
The storytelling is so good I simply got caught up, and, as for George, he is seriously, seriously good... Here, his performance is passionate, subtle and right on the money.
Deborah Ross
[Tony] Gilroy directs with a cool hand and an underplayed sense of drama, letting the words and the performances carry the film. Dec 16, 2017 | Full Review…
[Tony] Gilroy directs with a cool hand and an underplayed sense of drama, letting the words and the performances carry the film.
Sean Axmaker
There's a lot of skill involved in Michael Clayton and an understated, ambiguous hero that's becoming rare in modern film. Even if under its subtle surface there isn't really much there, the surface is good enough to make it worthwhile. Apr 8, 2011 | Rating: 8/10 | Full Review…
There's a lot of skill involved in Michael Clayton and an understated, ambiguous hero that's becoming rare in modern film. Even if under its subtle surface there isn't really much there, the surface is good enough to make it worthwhile.
Joshua Starnes
Michael Clayton is a chilling, intense conspiracy thriller, filled with intriguing characters and great performances. Jul 7, 2010 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…
Michael Clayton is a chilling, intense conspiracy thriller, filled with intriguing characters and great performances.
Matthew Pejkovic
Equates serious inquiry with inert filmmaking Aug 27, 2009 | Full Review…
Equates serious inquiry with inert filmmaking
Fernando F. Croce
Clooney's latest venture into panache is thriller style in Michael Clayton. Feb 2, 2009 | Rating: 2.5/5 | Full Review…
Clooney's latest venture into panache is thriller style in Michael Clayton.
Tony Macklin
Though not the most entertaining or innovative film, Michael Clayton is still a compelling, smart, and satisfying thriller that features strong acting and an interesting premise.
Super Reviewer
Corporate greed's at the middle of this look at the behind the scenes legal wrangling in a wrongful death lawsuit, greed vs. morality. The leads are good (especially Swinton) even if the pace is slow at first, so distracting.
The standard of filmmaking in ''Michael Clayton'' is impeccable. The plot threads tie together wonderfully, the performances from Clooney, Swinton and Wilkinson are outstanding and the tension that runs throughout the film is so high. Gilroy's script is wonderful with such hard-hitting dialogue and the development of each character is incredibly solid. If you're looking for a superbly assembled and suspenseful drama, ''Michael Clayton'' is as perfect as you could get.
Michael Clayton is an ex-ADA who now works as a fixer for a corporate law firm. When his old friend and mentor seemingly has a psychological break while defending another corporate giant he is called in to "handle" the situation. I must admit that this film had me hooked right from the incredibly intense monologue from Tom Wilkinson that opens the film. It plays out like a corporate Cold War film; the fact is that the plot will be very familiar to anyone who has seen a few legal dramas and the conclusion has a definite air of inevitability about it. But it's the journey there that makes it so worthwhile. Wilkinson is superb as the corporate slave who has a life changing catharsis, as is Clooney as the complex and morally ambiguous Clayton and Tilda Swinton as the immoral but anxiety riddled executive. It has no pointless action sequences and no gimmicks or twists; it's simply an very well written, extremely well acted and attractively and intelligently directed film full of interesting characters and excellent dialogue. Even the portrayal of Clayton's homelife, which is usually cinematic poison is realistic and unsentimental. Very much in the tradition of the likes of All The President's Men, Michael Clayton is the best straightforward and unpretentious low-key thriller I've seen in recent years.
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