Michael Clayton was a 2007 legal thriller written and directed by Tony Gilroy (Andor, the Bourne films). The film stars George Clooney as the title character, a lawyer and fixer who discovers a corporate coverup over the effects of toxic chemicals. The movie was a hit for a smaller drama, grossing $93 million worldwide off its $21 million budget, and was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture and winning Best Supporting Actress for Tilda Swinton.
Clooney also was nominated for Best Actor, his second acting nomination after his win for Syriana. While Clooney would lose to Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood, Michael Clayton stands as one of the best films in Clooney’s filmography. Clooney is one of the most recognizable actors on the planet and has been a part of some of the biggest films in the world, so in a filmography that includes movies like Gravity, Up in the Air, and Good Night and Good Luck what makes Michael Clayton Clooney’s best performance?
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Michael Clayton Knows How to Use Clooney’s Star Image
Warner Bros.
George Clooney occupies an interesting space as far as actors. He is regarded as a movie star and a serious character actor. While those two are not mutually exclusive, audiences and studios tend to think of them as separate. A movie star tends to have qualities that audiences associate them with; the best example recently is Dwayne Johnson whose movie star image may have hurt Black Adam and killed the DCU. Clooney’s movie star image has always been that of the cool guy. He is handsome (he’s been named People’s Sexiest Man Alive twice) and is always in control of the situation. His voice is mature, confident, and commanding without ever being frightening.
Michael Clayton perfectly uses what audiences expect from George Clooney to inform the character. In his opening scene, he quickly takes control of a difficult situation and commands the screen. The audience believes that this is a man who knows how to command a room.
As Micheal Clayton progresses, the narrative is constantly battling with Clooney, trying to wrestle control away from him. Clayton is thrust into a situation where not only does he lack control, but around unpredictable elements like his former boss’ manic depressive episodes throw the whole plot into areas that cannot be fixed as Clayton is custom too.
There is excitement in seeing how his character responds to these situations and how he acts when he loses control. By the end of the film in the climactic confrontation, Clayton takes back control of the film in a commanding monologue. Michael Clayton taps into George Clooney’s cool, calm, movie star image to inform the viewer about the character, and peels away at it just to build it back up and show why audiences love Clooney in this role.
Best Does Not Mean Most Iconic
Declaring anything ’the best’ is always subjective and likely to spur a debate, and when it comes to George Clooney’s performances, many might quickly shut down Michael Clayton as the actor’s best performance. Most might try and argue that his best is Danny Ocean in the Ocean’s 11, 12, and 13 films, as it is the one role Clooney has returned to and are some of his most successful films to date.
An argument could also be made for his other great collaboration with those films’ director, Steven Soderbergh — the great Out of Sight. The same could be said about his frequent collaborations with the Coen brothers, like O’Brother Where Art Thou, Burn After Reading, or Hail Caesar! as they often showcase the actor’s comedic chops.
Yet, ‘iconic’ is not the same as ‘best.’ While there is a good chance many audiences may not have seen or even remember Michael Clayton (Clooney’s recent post-COVID release, Ticket to Paradise, outgrossed it), the performance in the film itself wowed audiences who did see the movie. Michael Clayton has a strong script, is well-directed, and has a wonderful Tilda Swinton, but much of the movie hangs on Clooney’s performance.
Michael Clayton Is Just a Great Movie
2007 was a great year for film, and Michael Clayton was one of those incredible movies that helped inform the year. As mentioned, the movie was nominated for seven Academy Awards and was actually the only film from 2007 to receive multiple acting nominations. It’s not difficult to see why the movie is a captivating legal thriller anchored by enticing performances by everyone involved with Clooney as the central star around which the whole film revolves on. It feels like a relic of an era where movies aimed at adult audiences could find an audience and could be made just off the talent of the actor and director involved.
Tony Gilroy made a name for himself as a screenwriter for his work on The Devil’s Advocate and the Bourne trilogy, and Michael Clayton saw the writer take his first stab at directing. Pairing an actor like Clooney with Gilroy’s words was a match made in heaven, as Clooney’s dictation makes much of the complex legal jargon captivating and accessible.
By this point, Clooney was already an acclaimed director himself, having directed Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Good Night and Good Luck, so pairing his experience as an actor and director with Gilroy’s accomplished history as a writer and his first-time directing made for the perfect alchemy. Since Michael Clayton, Clooney was nominated for Best Actor twice more for Up in the Air and The Descendants. While the actor has made many great movies before becoming more selective of his roles in recent years, after all this time, Michael Clayton still remains a beloved film classic and a high mark in the famous stars long career.
