CinemaNow - Michael Clayton

Michael Clayton has garnered the strongest reviews of the season in the cities where it opened. Roger Ebert gave it a four-star review in the Chicago Sun-Times, writing "It is just about perfect as an exercise in the [legal/business thriller] genre. I've seen it twice, and the second time, knowing everything that would happen, I found it just as fascinating because of how well it was all shown happening. It's not about the destination but the journey." Manohla Dargis in the New York Times wrote that writer-director Tony Gilroy hasn't really attempted to reinvent the legal thriller with Clayton. Rather, she said, "At its best and most ambitious, the film plays less like a variation on a Hollywood standard than a reappraisal. It's a modest reappraisal, adult, sincere, intelligent, absorbing; it entertains without shame." Noting that Clooney has appeared in films with the New York Post's highest ratings since 1999, the Post's Lou Lumenick noted that Clayton is no exception. The film, he said, offers "some of the best dialogue in a recent movie and a gallery of unforgettable performances." He added: "This is a movie that thrives not on cheap melodramatics but on ideas and a more deliberate pace than most contemporary mainstream movies." A handful of critics have registered their dissent. Jan Stuart in Newsday commented: "It's invigorating and impressive on a formal level, but ultimately wearying. Midway through, one wants to hand all the characters a Valium and tell them to take the rest of the day off."

could have been, should have been.clooney is a tremendous actor.usually, the cookie ultra left wing politics of the likes of robin williams leaves me to vow never to watch anything of theirs again.but once in a while you get somebody like this guy and, say, matt dameon who are simply good at what they do and i throw my principles away to watch them.this movie just lacks.michael clayton is simply an unbelievable character and inconsistent with his role for this big law firm.the guy in charge of cleaning up a mess simply would not look and act this sloppy.reminds me of a hit man who can't shoot straight.please.anyway, i gave it three stars because the concept of the story was interesting.i'm sure that with enough money there are people out there who would clean up the mess from a murder, getting caught with a prostitute, or worse.if you are running out of movies to watch, this might be the distant second to get you through a night.