A Real Fixer-Upper

It's no secret that I'm a George Clooney fan, and have been for a while. So the night that Michael Clayton opened, I was there. And I'm happy to say, the man does not disappoint. Here he plays — well, he's a lawyer, but he's the kind of guy that high-powered law firms have on staff to fix things in their clients' favors, not necessarily to get involved in the actual law. But Clayton's feeling off his game lately thanks to a bad business decision and a messy divorce, and he says he's more of a janitor, cleaning up messes. Either way, he gets enmeshed in a case involving supposed environmental giant U/North and in assisting a colleague who is losing his grip, he finds all is not as it seems with his firm's prized client.

Michael Clayton is the kind of movie I feel like I need to see again because I wasn't totally following everything that was happening during the first two-thirds. It wasn't until Clayton catches on to the depth of the conspiracy that the film started to really come alive for me and make more sense. Likewise, Clooney's performance, while good, is sort of lethargic and quiet for most of the film, but when he finally gets a chance to bite into the role and take charge of the action, he's excellent. So I wish the film was less lopsided. But otherwise, it's real good, intelligently written and well-acted. Not sure I will see the film again, but I suspect I'd like and understand it even more on a second viewing. For now, I'm going to give Michael Clayton a B+.