Michael Clayton Movie Information

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Movie Information

Overall Rank: 1126

Average Rating: 2.9/4

# of Ratings: 310

Theatrical Release Date: 10/12/2007

Blu-ray/DVD Release Date: 02/19/2008

Language: English

Genre: Drama, Thriller

MPAA Rating: R

Director: Tony Gilroy

Actors: George Clooney, Pamela Gray, Sydney Pollack, Tom Wilkinson, Michael O'Keefe, Tilda Swinton

Plot: Michael Clayton is a "Clean up man" or a "Fixer" at a law firm that fixes people's legal problems by pulling strings of politicians and powerful people.

He gets involved in a case that wreaks of corruption. He tries desperately to get to the bottom of why the lead attorney has quit the case and gone missing. -- Josh C

Logan D. McCoy - wrote on 06/21/2019

Led by some terrific performances, "Michael Clayton" is a tightened coil that's ready to spring.

worleyjamers - wrote on 06/25/2014

Very, very, very slow and hard to follow at first. But, Michael Clayton is a very good thriller. A unique thing about this film, isn't the plot, but the way it appeals as a thriller. With the minimal use of a score and action, it's thrills are driven by the acting. So many other thrillers depend on intense music and action, but this film depends solely upon it's brilliant cast. George Clooney, Tom Atkinson, and Tilda Swinton are fantastic in this film. Definitely worth a watch. I promise that after the slow first hour, it gets better.

Hogan - wrote on 01/14/2013

This was not as good as i expected it to be. I was disapointed by the plot. The best part was the end when he gets even for his friend. It was alright but not something i would buy, glad i rented it

Indyfreak
Movie God

Never f**k with someone who's a relible fixer.

Indyfreak - wrote on 09/01/2014

Michael Clayton is a great recent example of that increasingly rare film that is entertaining thanks not to special effects or explosions or action sequences but dialogue and character development. When we first meet all the important characters, we have little idea of how things will turn out for them or what moral stance they'd take in the end, if any. It wastes little to none of its two hour running time. Few movies do this sort of thing anymore. It's unfortunate that this movie lost Best Original Screenplay to some hipster fluff about teen pregnancy. Paradoxically, it's little that we've seen before but it's so intelligently crafted and masterfully directed that it just seems so much more deserving. And yes, the acting is outstanding all across the board as well.

Daniel Corleone
Movie God

Michael Clayton review

Daniel Corleone - wrote on 10/29/2012

A typical overrated slow-burner such as No Country for Old Men which was hyped in the Academy Awards. Films such as Godfather II, Magnolia, JFK, All The Presidents Men, Incendies (list goes on as mentioned in one of the one's this rater has created) were lengthy but each scene from start to finish were engaging, detailed and entertaining. Michael Clayton is a "fixer" of a law firm and discovers the real story of the class action lawsuit against U-North, an agricultural products conglomerate. The Insider was even better than this this with the similar process (but involved the tobacco giants and effects of their products). Wilkinson was evidently better than Clooney on this picture and should have been praised. Oftentimes the Oscar's prove wrong, this is one of them depending on …

Yojimbo
Movie God

"Michael Clayton" by Yojimbo

Yojimbo - wrote on 03/31/2012

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 …