Michael Clayton was released in 2007, a long time ago, it seems, because a straight, well-crafted, stylish, story-driven-but-character-informed movie, by and for adults, is an endangered species today, since adults themselves have become endangered species.
Consider the leads: George Clooney, dressed, groomed and behaving like an adult; likewise, Sidney Pollack, the great director and here actor/producer. Even Tim Williamson's raving lunatic is an adult raving lunatic. Only the marvelous Tilda Swinton plays infantile-completely self-absorbed, obsessively rehearsing before she "performs" her encounters with others, be they bosses, board men or hit men. She's at once an amoral sociopath and a sad little girl. She reminds me of female reporters we see at press conferences, desperately over-trying.
The story is familiar, but what makes this a great movie is how wonderfully it's executed throughout. Even bit parts, by Michael O'Keefe, Denis O'Hare and the precocious Austin Williams as Clayton's son, are memorable. Also memorable is the chilling professionalism of hit men Robert Prescott and Terry Serpico.
The perfect pacing, cutting, unobtrusive camera, and the brilliant script are due to the fact that director Tony Gilroy is also the writer. It's Hollywood film-making at its best and, alas, some of the last.
Consider the leads: George Clooney, dressed, groomed and behaving like an adult; likewise, Sidney Pollack, the great director and here actor/producer. Even Tim Williamson's raving lunatic is an adult raving lunatic. Only the marvelous Tilda Swinton plays infantile-completely self-absorbed, obsessively rehearsing before she "performs" her encounters with others, be they bosses, board men or hit men. She's at once an amoral sociopath and a sad little girl. She reminds me of female reporters we see at press conferences, desperately over-trying.
The story is familiar, but what makes this a great movie is how wonderfully it's executed throughout. Even bit parts, by Michael O'Keefe, Denis O'Hare and the precocious Austin Williams as Clayton's son, are memorable. Also memorable is the chilling professionalism of hit men Robert Prescott and Terry Serpico.
The perfect pacing, cutting, unobtrusive camera, and the brilliant script are due to the fact that director Tony Gilroy is also the writer. It's Hollywood film-making at its best and, alas, some of the last.