George of the Legal Jungle (****1/2)

Now this is a real movie - so compelling I forgot to blink, except once or twice every half hour or so. It's nothing less than what I would expect from a man who wrote the screenplay for The Bourne Ultimatum, and Tony Gilroy did nothing to disappoint me with Michael Clayton.

The film focuses on Michael Clayton (Clooney), the "fixer" at a prestigious New York law firm, who has, as his boss puts it, "carved a niche" for himself as the person who helps clients with difficult or complicated situations. How he does this is irrelevant, and the film doesn't spend time showing us how good Clayton is at his job. In fact, much of what is told to us about Clayton is mentioned in passing, for all of about thirty seconds.

The firm represents an agricultural company called U-North, which has been harboring a rather ugly secret that would guarantee their loss in a class-action lawsuit brought against it by a family of farmers in Milwaukee. Unfortunately for U-North, Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), one of the key lawyers in the case, stumbles upon the incriminating documents and has an epiphany at the same time - his practice and his life have both been a farce and he wants to make amends. His methods however, are not very subtle or sly, and he becomes an easy target for U-North's Karen Crowder, U-North's very own "fixer," who must prevent the truth from being revealed at any cost.

As he follows Edens to prevent him from causing damage to the firm at first, and to uncover the truth later on, Clayton contends with his personal battles along the way. It becomes quite apparent that the niche Clayton has carved for himself may be one he can't really get out of - he has been at the firm for seventeen years, with no promotion and no chance of becoming a partner. To make things worse, he has lost his savings on investing in an unsuccessful restaurant partnership with his brother, as a result of which, he owes the New York mafia big money, and his relationship with his young son is faltering. But his troubles take a backseat with Edens' breakdown and the series of events that follow.

Tony Gilroy could not have chosen better - with George Clooney at the helm, the film sucks you in with quiet force, as a true thriller should. Tom Wilkinson's grab-you-by-the-collar-and-shake-you dialogues lay the foundation for the film. Austin Williams plays Clayton's son, whose favorite mythical tale of collective consciousness and common good is a work of art that is as ingenious as it is disturbing, and goads Edens and Clayton on in their quest for truth. Tilda Swinton as Karen Crowder undergoes a visible struggle as she crosses boundary upon boundary to cover up U-North's tracks. With such a palette of characters to paint the plot with, it's no wonder the film got an Oscar nod.

As for any contrast between Michael Clayton and No Country for Old Men, it is as stark as tepid and boiling water - because, at the end of the day, the tremendous satisfaction you get when you know that justice has been done is pretty unbeatable.