Michael Clayton

*** - In this critically-acclaimed drama (certainly not a thriller, as it is billed), George Clooney plays a lawyer who is not really a lawyer in that he doesn’t practice law per se, but he does work with lawyers in some capacity and travels a lot doing various things like talking to people and looking at horses. In any event, I don’t really know what he does, other than rack up large gambling debts. Between poker games he somehow manages to stumble upon a massive cover-up at a large agrichemical company (a la Monsanto) called U-North - which is a little confusing because for the first half of the movie I assumed it was a university not a large business – which was discovered by certifiably loony colleague Tom Wilkinson, who is subsequently killed via a needle to the foot. Lots of other equally uninteresting things occur, as well. The film is well-crafted and nicely shot with great performances from most involved, which keeps it somewhat enjoyable despite its dullness and predictability. I chalk up its critical acclaim to the presence of Sidney Pollack, who has been considered a sort of movie Midas ever since his string of dull and critically fawned over films from the 70s. Overrated.