Screenwriting at its absolute finest

There have been many other films which follow a similar storyline to Michael Clayton, but as I've always said, it's not the story per se but rather HOW the story is told that marks the difference between a good film and an exceptional one. Tony Gilroy, the writer of all three Bourne scripts along with many other excellent screenplays, takes on the role of director here as well, and he has created an elegant, flawless, magnificently intelligent masterpiece with Michael Clayton.

This is, quite simply, the movie that all those other corporate malfeasance/litigation/damage control/justice-in-the-end films wished they could have been. Gilmore creates a superbly conceived storyline and impeccably executes it by removing all the cliché'ed underpinnings, all the overwrought plot twists, the ham-fisted theatrics, any shred of contrivance, all the clumsy over-stated garbage that weighs down most forays into the genre, giving us instead nothing but quality. Every single minute of the film counts, and this engages you, the viewer, on an extremely concentrated level, where you instinctively realize that each word and action definitely means something.

This is a character-driven piece above all, and these characters are brilliantly written. Gilroy provides just the right amount of spot-on detail for each, allowing us to intuit far more about them for ourselves, on our own, while we're watching. The standout for me was Tom Wilkinson's Arthur Edens; no character in recent movie history manages to convey that fine line between genius and madness with more clarity and depth than the always-great Wilkinson does here. Clooney of course is perfect as the title character, giving us a complex study of a hugely conflicted, all-too-human individual who's at a serious crossroads in his life, where he needs to start making grave choices if he's going to survive. His plight is conveyed with superb subtlety, and when the final showdown comes, the payoff is powerful and deeply satisfying. I applauded.