SCHUYLER VANBUREN ON FILM::::: "MICHAEL CLAYTON" - VOL8/1.26.08/#1

SCHUYLER VAN BUREN ON FILM:“MICHAEL CLAYTON”
(GEORGE CLOONEY/TOM WILKINSON/TILDA SWINTON/SIDNEY POLLACK
(VOL8/1-26-08/#1) ≈

Now, here is the movie we have waited for this season. Not a period piece or a study of a few characters. Rather, a film with real things at stake – with real people dealing with those things – and circumstances that most filmgoers will not realize are very authentic.
The circumstances: the brilliant litigation lawyer (portrayed by Tom Wilkinson) has flashes of clarity sans his medicine which threaten his huge defendant corporate client’s position in a three billion dollar class action lawsuit. The law firm’s fixer (George Clooney) is in charge of bringing Wilkinson under control. The law firm's leader (Sidney Pollack) is worried about the loose cannon litigator and a potential big merger of his firm and another. Tilda Swinton is general counsel of the gigantic defendant corporation in the lawsuit and it is her job to protect the corporation at all costs.
So, you have beautiful conflicts – and much at stake: the law firm’s future; the gigantic corporation’s cash; the brilliant lawyer and his life and future; the career of the firm’s fixer; and the obligation of the corporation general counsel to her company.
The film moves – the film has a gripping, tension filled story, and the film has a true ending and resolution to the conflicts and the circumstances.
See this one ------ it was brought back to the theatres after its nomination for several OSCARS -------- it is a great American story.
GO-GO-GO. (1.26.08)