Feeling Flat

After the highs of Bourne and Atonement we seem to have had a string of movies that have failed to live up to their potential, and here's another one:





Michael Clayton - 2.5/5





OK, really its a three out of five movie, but the potential for a really gripping legal thriller is so great, that the disappointment knocks it down. The film starts promisingly enough with Clooney as the eponymous hero (a fixer for a big lawfirm) called to see a client who's been involved in a hit and run. On the way back, he stops, gets out of the car and climbs a hill, in the background the car explodes. The action is then rewound four days to show how we got there.





The plot follows Clayton as he's called in when the firm's top litigator (Tom Wilkinson) suffers an apparent breakdown in a deposition hearing and runs naked through the parking lot shouting that he's Shiva the Goddess of Death. As Clayton gets more involved in the case he discovers that their clients are as guilty as anything and is forced to question what he's doing. As plots go, its probably slightly sub-Grisham standards, but having potential nonetheless.



Neither can the movie's failings be put down to the cast. Clooney is on terrific form - toning down the usual twinkle and adding a lo of gusto and world-weariness to his performance. He is ably supported by the brits (who actually play the movie's most intersting charcters) - Tilda Swinton displays a fragile insecurity behind the icy facade as the representative of the evil corporation. However, the real star of the piece is Tom Wilkinson, giving one of his best turns as the possibly crazy lawyer discovering a conscience and trying to bring down his client. He lifts matters greatly whenever he's on screen and provides the rather unusual moral heart of the film. Unfortunately, he checks out halfway through proceedings and the film as a whole never recovers. Even the final showdown feels somewhat perfunctorary despite some of Clooney's best lines.

No, the main problem comes with the direction - which is leaden when it should be pacy. The film lacks any form of zip, punch or tension and for a thriller that's bad news. Tony Gilroy's work on The Bourne trilogy proves that he has something as a screenwriter, but his debut as director leaves alot of room for improvement. There are too many plot strands that go nowhere and add nothing to the whole.

All in all, a good cast on good form let down by the end product.