Conduta de Risco

This is a well-made suspense film. It builds slowly, it features the key characters in sometimes agonising close-up, it weaves an intricate plot (a bit too intricate, in hindsight -- I'm still not sure why some events were included), and George Clooney is masterful as the morally conflicted character who does his best to hold his collapsing life together, while slowly realising that his role in life is not quite what he thought it was in any case.

There are some things this film is not. It's not an action film ... if you expect that, it will seem very slow. It's not a warm and friendly film that leaves you feeling good about the world -- it was shot in winter, just to emphasise its coldness. It's not a comedy in any way, not even through being over-the-top. It's reality rather than escapism.

If you like suspense, unflinching realism, stories of moral conflict, criticisms of corporate America, or George Clooney -- or if you're just in the mood to see that kind of film -- you'll love it. If you're in the mood for a film to wash away the cares of the day (as I was), choose something else.

Saw this at a screening at the Toronto Int'l Film Festival.

This movie is appropriately titled "Michael Clayton" because in it we are introduced to the man in his many life roles; father, ex-husband, brother, son, friend and businessman. Some things he's good at, others not so much.

Terry Gilroy's debut directing showed a controlled and restrained hand, allowing the multi-tracked storyline to expand and grow, but always with a pull back to the core. For a fairly busy plot with numerous sub-characters, he did a good job of turning over pieces of the puzzle to bring the audience back full circle to the opening scene.

Michael Clayton fixes things, but we see in his own personal life there are a trail of problems he's dealing with. It's when he works alone that he seems to do his best work. Once those close to him come into his decision-making process, he lets emotions rule rather than his head.

George Clooney always seems to have a message in his movies, wanting us to be aware of the evil-doers out in the world. His boyish charm and general likability makes you root for him. We can relate to him.

Michael Clayton is a flawed individual who has good intentions but often gets beaten by the world and the people around him. Can't we all relate to that too? This was a satisfying suspense flick. Key to enjoying it is to pay attention.

There aren't many movies that I enjoy watching twice or more, this is certainly one of them. This is in the running to be my favorite movie of all time. This movie can be hard to follow, and can seem vulgar at times, but in reality the dialogue has a higher purpose: to illustrate how we can get lost in our personal objectives and lose track of the bigger picture. The majority of characters in this movie don't fall into the "good guy", "bad guy" category, they are various shades of gray, just like real people. If one puts themselves in the shoes of the characters, their actions are plausible and consistent with reality. If you don't want to have your brain challenged by a time-line that bounces around and a complicated story that requires the viewer to put the pieces together you might want to save this for another night, but don't miss it, it's an incredible piece of writing and filmmaking.

In the title role of Michael Clayton, George Clooney is described by himself as exactly that. Whenever there's a big mess he's the one they send in to clean it up. The law firm under managing partner Sydney Pollack has a real mess on his hands. One of the firm's top attorneys Tom Wilkinson has gone off the deep end. He's representing a chemical company accused of poisoning people with a new insecticide they've developed. Cleaning up this mess might be just a baby sitting job with Wilkinson who mentored Clayton. But it has the potential to be worse because this company is guilty as sin and will do anything to limit the liability and keep their good name.

Michael Clayton was nominated for a flock of Oscars including Best Actor for George Clooney as a much flawed hero. Takes a while for the better angels of Clooney's nature emerge. Tom Wilkinson as the lawyer with both conscience and schizophrenia steals the acting honors though. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Michael Clayton got a flock of other nominations including Best Picture.

The film did take home one bit of Oscar gold. Tilda Swinton as one of the chemical company executives who also has an attack of conscience got a Best Supporting Actress Award. She's quite good herself.

The film is an interesting look at big business and the high priced lawyers they must retain to keep them out of trouble. Sad in some cases we have to rely on consciences coming to the fore for any justice at times.

Michael Clayton, a well done piece of cinema.

After seeing "Superbad" last weekend, I needed a grown-up antidote and this movie is certainly that. A slow moving, adult, serious movie with a message.

The movie has a number of themes including ageing, corruption, principles and truth. The movie's message is that there is more to life than making money.

The acting is uniformly good but Clooney is outstanding. His character is complex and he's pretty unhappy with what he has become. But it's all done very subtly. There are no obvious messages in this movie. As another reviewer wrote, you have to pay attention.

Don't read too much into my "slow moving/slow burner" descriptions. This movie is not boring. It just doesn't whiz along with one implausible twist after another. It's evenly paced with an almost complete lack of silly plot lines (there was no need for the lawyer in crisis to remove his clothes during a trial).

Everyone involved in this movie deserves praise for producing a challenging, grown-up, movie-with-a-message in the face of a torrent of mindless nonsense.

Highly recommended.