Michael Clayton
March 2008 Reviewed by: Josh Barber Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

When you think of courtroom dramas, you probably think of John Grisham. He seems to have the genre all sewn up, which is why so much of the talk about Michael Clayton compared this story to Grisham's work. But Michael Clayton manages to up the ante on the old guard, delivering an inescapably tense story with some real smarts.

The titular Michael Clayton isn't a lawyer, though he works for a high-priced New York law firm. He's a "fixer," the guy who makes problems go away. But when Arthur Edens, one of the firm's star attorneys, goes off his medication and has a fairly public breakdown, the problem seems too big to fix. In any other film, that may be the entire plot summary; but for Michael Clayton, it's just the beginning. Tony Gilroy has done legal drama before, with the supernaturally tilted Devil's Advocate, but his most recent work has been for The Bourne Identity and its sequels, which certainly gave him the chance to practice balancing character and plot.

George Clooney does a fine job as the past-his-prime Clayton, but special attention must be paid to the supporting actors as well. Tom Wilkinson is Edens, the bipolar attorney whose actions begin the story, but he never strays into over-broad, hammy caricature. Similarly, Tilda Swinton is excellent as the stiffly misguided head lawyer for the company Edens had been representing.

The picture quality of this disc is surprisingly good for a film that spends so much of its time in cubicles and corner offices. The details are crisp, the blacks are deep, and the beautiful cinematography is preserved well. Michael Clayton isn't trying to deliver a big social message, just a tense thriller, and the visuals complement that.

The sound does an acceptable job with the source material; the speakers don't have to work very hard, but everything comes through clearly. Overall, Warner Home Video could have gotten away with a lot less, but technically this disc delivers.

Sadly, Michael Clayton is really lacking when it comes to bonus features. We get a commentary track from director Tony Gilroy and his brother John, the film's editor, but it's a lot of empty praise and verbal glad-handing, rather than actual commentary on the film -- a lot of talking without saying anything.

Other than that, we only get three deleted scenes that run about five minutes total. The scenes have optional commentary as well. For such an interesting film, there's nothing backing it up -- perhaps Warner is planning a special edition for sometime in the future.

Michael Clayton had a lot of Oscar buzz when it came out, and it's not entirely undeserved. Gilroy's script heaps on the suspense, but the actors are still given plenty to work with, rather than just being ciphers intended to react to the plot. The movie is worth seeing, but consider this a rental. With a dearth of special features, this isn't a must-own disc.

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