--- title: "Michael Clayton: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/michael-clayton/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/michael-clayton" critics_score: 72 critics_reviews: 9 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Michael Clayton (2007): what the critics said Critics' score 72 from 9 reviews: 6 positive, 2 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics respond favourably to Michael Clayton, with praise clustering around the performances and its attention to the personal cost of corporate corruption. Clooney’s worn-down fixer is the chief attraction, while Wilkinson and Swinton receive strong notices for their supporting work. The favourable reviews also value Gilroy’s dialogue and controlled direction, finding tension in compromised characters and legal manoeuvring rather than constant action. Several see the character study as at least as compelling as the thriller. The spread is fairly wide, with pace, plotting and emotional payoff dividing opinion. What admirers find measured and atmospheric, others find slow or confusing. Screen Daily praises the supporting performances but finds the emotional rewards lacking. The AV Club admires the moral complexity while arguing that the resolution is too slick. Little White Lies offers a more broadly negative response to the grey corporate setting, though it still finds individual images and moments effective. ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 28 September 2007. Gilroy delivers a measured conspiracy thriller about corporate corruption and personal conscience, highlighted by excellent performances from Clooney and Swinton and a cathartic dialogue climax. The measured pace builds effective tension. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/movie-review-michael-clayton.html) ## The AV Club — Nathan Rabin Rating B+. 4 October 2007. Gilroy's debut effectively explores corporate duplicity through a morally exhausted protagonist, with standout work from Clooney, Wilkinson, and Swinton in a shadowy, atmospheric package. The slick ending undercuts some of the moral ambiguity. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/michael-clayton-1798203121) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Kirk Honeycutt Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 30 August 2007. Gilroy's directorial debut crafts tense characters and situations with strong payoffs in a corporate thriller. The cast, led by Clooney, delivers solid performances despite some plot inconsistencies. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/michael-clayton-george-clooney-tony-gilroy-158230/) ## Time Out — Ben Walters Rating 4/5. 24 September 2007. The critic notes shades of Erin Brockovich in this corporate thriller about a fixer caught in a class-action lawsuit against a megacorporation. Strong points include an unpredictable structure, excellent cast and striking set pieces like an efficient murder and a sombre final shot. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/michael-clayton) ## Slant Magazine — Nick Schager Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 3 October 2007. The film taps into disgust with amoral corporate practices but relies on a conventional narrative and Clooney's charisma to obscure its wish-fulfillment elements. Peripheral details add some depth to the characters and situations. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/michael-clayton/) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 3 September 2007. Festival review. Clooney plays an isolated fixer in a slow, moody thriller with a social conscience, supported by strong turns from Wilkinson and Swinton. The film lacks emotional payoffs and feels disorienting at times despite its ethical themes. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/michael-clayton/4034278.article) ## Little White Lies — Lorien Haynes Rating 4/2/2. 28 September 2007. The film is described as grey and metallic in tone, focusing on corporate lawyers in a bland wasteland. Praise goes to symbolic elements like three horses, a shocking murder sequence and a satisfying final payoff involving Clooney and Swinton. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/michael-clayton) ## Empire — Kim Newman 31 August 2007. The critic finds the issue-led thriller has a grabby opening and offers moments of suspense plus star charisma, but notes it is a touch confused with unnecessarily convoluted plotting. It stacks the deck by not showing the protagonists' earlier misdeeds. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/michael-clayton-review/) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan 5 October 2007. The critic praises the film as a smart and suspenseful legal thriller that comes completely alive on-screen thanks to Gilroy's heightened dialogue and instinct for emotional intensity. He singles out the excellent cast, especially Clooney, Wilkinson and Swinton, for bringing the textured script to life. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-oct-05-et-clayton5-story.html) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw 28 September 2007. Clooney delivers an arresting performance as a damaged, defeated fixer in a corporate-legal thriller swathed in anxiety and shame. The film functions more as a character study of swallowed disappointment than a conventional paranoia thriller. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/sep/28/georgeclooney.thriller) ## The New Yorker — David Denby 1 October 2007. The critic calls the film enormous fun with pace, drive and a beautiful modulated performance from Clooney, praising its smart, detailed dialogue about law-firm corruption. He notes a single uncanny pause with horses as a highlight but hopes the director will let future films breathe more. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/10/08/lost-men) ## The New York Times — Manohla Dargis 5 October 2007. The critic finds the film a modest but adult, sincere and intelligent reappraisal of the legal thriller genre that entertains without shame. She singles out its steady direction and the way it speaks to contemporary corporate power. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/movies/05clay.html) ## The Times — James Christopher 27 September 2007. Clooney is a haunted marvel as the jaundiced corporate fixer whose Faustian talent has left personal scars. The legal thrills hinge on skulduggery in a class-action suit, with strong support from Wilkinson and others in Gilroy's directorial debut. [Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/best-law-firms/profile-legal/article/michael-clayton-c52c5ww7q56) ## Variety — Brian Lowry 31 August 2007. The critic describes the film as spare and unhurried with strong performances and a solid story about corporate machinery, but notes it lacks fireworks and can feel slow-paced. He highlights realistic shades of gray and the understated contributions of the cinematography and score. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2007/film/reviews/michael-clayton-5-1200556810/) ## The Playlist — Rodrigo Perez Rating B+. 16 October 2007. The film is a loose, slow-burn crisis-of-conscience tale that lingers deliberately like 1970s thrillers rather than rushing to a tight conclusion. It offers a nostalgic and unique ride about moral crisis, though the ending feels a little Hollywood. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/capsule-reviews-lars-real-girl-michae-20071016/) ## Paste — Jeremy Goldmeier Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 5 October 2007. The critic praises Gilroy's directorial debut for balancing character studies of three lonely figures entangled in a corporate lawsuit with a gripping, intricately plotted thriller. It singles out the film's insightful exploration of moral conflicts within big business and how seemingly ordinary actions by individuals shape corporate ethics. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/george-clooney/michael-clayton) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/michael-clayton.md