Michael Clayton

The latest George Clooney vehicle is a well written, well acted, greatly edited thriller that allows the Oscar winning actor to show off his craft once again after his well received turn in the convoluted but very good Syriana.

SPOILER TAG: In Michael Clayton, Clooney plays a special kind of lawyer, the kind that works behind the scenes and cleans up whatever mess comes up, instead of in the courtroom. This time, he's called upon restraining the top lawyer of the firm (an always excellent Tom Wilkinson), who seems to have gone crazy - and switched sides - while working on a major class action lawsuit against one of their biggest clients.

The chilling Tilda Swinton, head of the legal department for the sued company, faced with some very compromising evidence by the lawyer's betrayal, has to now make some tough decisions.

The thriller is built around an initial flashback that effectively drums up the suspense towards the end, when we catch up to it.

I think the best part of the movie is the writing, which is then very effectively transposed to the screen by a nice ensemble of actors. I'm not a big fan of Clooney, who oftentimes seems to re-use the same "charming" expression over and over, but sometimes he turns out a good overall performance, and this is one of those.

This is a good thriller, reminding me of the good old Hollywood thrillers that so rarely now get made, victims of the much more profitable (but less rewarding) summer blockbusters.

Grade: 7.5