This movie marks the directorial debut for Gilroy, who wrote the screenplays for the Bourne trilogy. Compared to the hyperkinetic Bourne movies, Clayton is a much more thoughtful effort. It follows - you guessed it - Michael Clayton (Clooney), a sort of crisis-management man for a large New York law firm that represents a fictitious company charged with producing a cancer-causing fertilizer. Right at the outset of the movie, Clayton's car blows up (lucky for him he's not in it). Then in a classic Tarantino-like move, Gilroy spends the next hour and a half taking the viewer through the previous four days to show how Clayton got himself into a position where someone would put a bomb in his car.
While the slow pace may turn off a few, the movie easily engages viewers by means other than constant explosions (there's only one) or gunfights. Gilroy draws the viewer in with thought-provoking dialogue and complex questions of morality - concepts hard to find in most Hollywood films. The story unfolds realistically, making use of drawn out scenes that allow viewers to peer into the world of high power law firms that - at least in Michael Clayton's world - drain the life out of all who work for them. Luckily, the film doesn't drain the life out of the audience. Those with the patience to sit through Michael Clayton will find it to be a rewarding experience.
