Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Michael Clayton Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 22, 2011

Tony Gilroy's "Michael Clayton" (2007) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors M6. The supplemental features on the disc include the film's original theatrical trailer; audio commentary by director Tony Gilroy and editor John Gilroy; footage from the press conference after the film's screening at the Deauville American Film Festival; and deleted scenes. In English, with optional French and French SDH subtitle for the main feature. Region-Free.

I am not the enemy

The legal film Michael Clayton (George Clooney, Syriana) works for has more than 600 lawyers, but he is not one of them. In fact, he isn’t even on the firm’s payroll. People like him are ghosts, they don’t exist. They only appear when there is trouble, something that needs to be fixed.

Clayton is the firm’s best "fixer" and his latest assignment is to help a lawyer, Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson, In the Bedroom), who has suffered a serious nervous breakdown and compromised himself during a hearing session. Because he is in charge with an important case worth billions, Edens’ bosses want to make sure that he is still a man they could trust. If the case is settled as they wish, a lucrative merger will make them invincible.

Clayton meets Edens and quickly realizes that the initial description he was given is incorrect - the man hasn’t suffered a nervous breakdown, he has rediscovered his conscience. What’s even worse, however, is that he has decided to take down his client, U-North.

A video tape containing footage from Edens' "nervous breakdown" reaches Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton, Julia), U-North’s chief legal executive. She immediately contacts the top man in the legal firm, Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack, Husbands and Wives), and asks for assistance. Bach sends Clayton to calm her down and figure out how to fix the situation.

But things go from bad to worse. First Edens disappears and then Clayton is warned to pay off his outstanding debts by a guy with connections to people who don’t mind hurting other people when they own them money. And when Crowder learns about Edens’ disappearance, she makes a crucial move that turns everything upside down.

Michael Clayton is a fascinating film about a strange world populated by immoral individuals. They are all professionals, men and women who would do anything to quench their greed for money and power. Quite a few of them are also skillful magicians, capable of creating fortunes, building financial empires and just as easily destroying them.

The film offers glimpses of their personal lives - there is footage with Crowder suffering an intense panic attack and with Clayton looking for peace at an underground gambling establishment - but isn’t interested in the personal demons they struggle with. The focus of attention is on the system that has irreversibly damaged them.

Clooney’s performance is superb, arguably his best to date. Some of the most impressive scenes in the film are the ones where he looks straight into the camera and we realize that his character is a broken man. There is no fix that can fix his life. Swinton is also striking as the souless legal executive who would do anything to gain power. There are a couple of terrific cameos as well, most notably Pollack, who is also the film’s co-producer, and of course Wilkinson, whose character unleashes the drama.

Tony Gilroy, son of Pulitzer Prize winner Frank D. Gilroy, is the director of the film. His style appears to have been at least partially influenced by Michael Mann’s - it is disciplined and seductive, cool and dreamy.

Oscar-winning cinematographer Robert Elswit’s (Bad Influence, There Will Be Blood) lensing is impossible not to admire. The film is also complimented by an incredibly moody soundtrack courtesy of James Newton Howard (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight).

Note: In 2008, Michael Clayton won Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Tilda Swinton).

Michael Clayton Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Tony Gilory's Michael Clayton arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of French distributors M6.

This high-definition transfer is vastly superior to the one Warner Brothers used for their U.S. Blu-ray release of Michael Clayton. Clarity and contrast levels, for instance, are dramatically stronger. Even during the nighttime scenes, clarity is substantially improved. Color reproduction is also a lot more convincing - blacks, browns, greens, and reds are rich and well saturated, while the variety of prominent blues look fresh and natural. Edge-enhancement is not a serious issue of concern; neither is macroblocking. What really makes an enormous difference here, however, is the absence of the noise filtering the U.S. Blu-ray release was treated with. Indeed, the various close-ups, and especially the panoramic vistas (the explosion scene, for instance, looks fantastic), look absolutely beautiful. Finally, there are no serious stability issues. Blown through a digital projector, Michael Clayton looks tight, healthy and notably fresh. To sum it all up, this is a very strong high-definition transfer that does the film justice. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your PS3 or SA regardless of your geographical location. Please note that there is no problematic PAL or 1080/50i content preceding the disc's main menu).

Michael Clayton Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, M6 have provided optional French and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they split the image frame and the black bar below it.

The audio treatment is as impressive as the video treatment. The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 has a wonderful range of dynamics that gives award-winning composer James Newton Howard's ambient score a tremendous boost. Furthermore, the surround channels and bass are now overly active, but both are very effective. The dialog is crisp, clean, stable, and exceptionally easy to follow. I also did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks, or audio dropouts to report in this review.

Michael Clayton Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: Some of the supplemental features on this Blu-ray disc are encoded in PAL. Therefore, you if you reside in North America, or another region where PAL is not supported, you must have a Region-Free player capable of converting PAL to NTSC or a native Region-B player and a TV set capable of processing PAL-encoded data in order to access them.

• Commentary - a terrific audio commentary with director Tony Gilroy and editor John Gilroy. The two gentlemen discuss the production history of Michael Clayton (some excellent comments about Sydney Pollack's support and George Clooney's enthusiasm), its fascinating narrative, the various characters, etc. Highly recommended. In English, with imposed French subtitles.

• Conference de presse a Deauville - footage from the press conference after the film's screening at the Deauville American Film Festival in which cast and crew members answer various questions. In French and English, not subtitled. (31 min, PAL).

• Scenes coupees - a collection of deleted scenes with optional commentary by director Tony Gilroy and editor John Gilroy. In English, with imposed French subtitles. (6 min, PAL).

• Bandes-annonces - four trailers for other M6 Bu-ray releases, including one for Michael Clayton. Dubbed in French. (1080p).

Michael Clayton Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

French distributors M6's Bu-ray release of Tony Gilroy's Michael Clayton is superior to the one Warner Brothers released in the United States - it uses a completely different high-definition transfer and boasts a very strong loseless audio track. If this is one of your favorite films from recent years, you should consider adding M6's Region-Free Blu-ray release to your library. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.