Michael Clayton

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Still hurting after his failed attempt to break into the bar business, legal "fixer" Michael Clayton (George Clooney) experiences a crisis of conscience when his friend and colleague (Tom Wilkinson) goes bonkers over a $3 billion class-action suit. The reason? Their firm is on the defense, and it seems like corporate heavyweight U/North is responsible for killing hundreds of people with an undetectable chemical.

Big question: Can "Michael Clayton," the directorial debut from "Bourne" franchise screenwriter Tony Gilroy, avoid comparisons to "Erin Brockovich" and get inside the mind of a flawed guy in over his head?

Catch it: Clooney's quietly layered performance shouts for Oscar attention, revealing all the regret and dissatisfaction as Michael realizes his amoral job now defines him. His eyes seem to say, "How did I get here?" while his bosses demand that he sweep everything under the rug--otherwise, someone else will be sent to fix the fixer.

Skip it: If you don't want to hear Clayton offer a piece of advice to a client that we can all take to heart: "Don't piss off a motivated stripper." OK, maybe it doesn't apply to everyone.

Bottom line: A few loose ends aside, "Michael Clayton" is brilliantly precise in its deconstruction of dirty work and dirtier secrets, and a surprisingly subtle story of people who often can't tell if they're talking to a friend or an enemy. Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton--as U/North's chief litigator--are terrific as well, both trapped by and fighting on a moral battlefield that never runs out of ammo.

Bonus: Take a moment to speculate about how many times this line from the movie has been uttered in American history: "Let's get out of Milwaukee and we'll talk about it."

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