Every time I saw the Michael Clayton trailer I got the impression that it would be a good movie, although I had absolutely no idea what it was about. It seemed to be setting up Clooney's title character as someone on the wrong side of a legal battle, but there was really no insight into what the story was about. Nonetheless, the trailer was not put together in a manner that enticed me to plunk down my cash for it. Still, positive word swirled around it, and outside of superhero movies, Clooney can generally be relied on for a good performance. I am glad I went, but I do not completely agree with the high praise that I have seen for it.
George Clooney is Michael Clayton, a fixer for a high-powered New York law firm. In other words, he is the guy called in when one of the firm's high-profile clients gets into a mess, or to use Clayton's description, he is a janitor. As the film opens, Clayton is in the midst of a high stakes underground poker match; as he leaves he gets a call. He heads out to the Westchester home of a man who was involved in a hit and run, and who left the scene. Clayton is described as a miracle worker by his bosses, but he appears as anything but. He stands in front of the client a mere shell of his reputed self. This is not a miracle worker, but a man who is being beaten by his personal circumstances and is on the cusp of a major turning point in his life.
Most of the middle of Michael Clayton is flashback. After our introduction to the worn down Clayton we are taken back to the beginning of a series of events that led him to the biggest moment of his life. It is in this middle where we get plenty of fully rendered characters who give the whole the illusion of being more intelligent than it is. These well-crafted distractions cover up a conventional and straightforward plot. It is these characters who elevate the mundane circumstances of the plot and make this film much better than it really has any right to be.
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