George Clooney plays a fixer for a big law firm. Tom Wilkinson plays their best lawyer, who has a breakdown defending their biggest client. Tilda Swinton plays the client’s executive who hires thugs to kill both of them and protect her company from losing a huge lawsuit.

It gives a dramatic look into the lengths that people will go to protect their jobs. Stalking, wiretapping, discrimination against the disabled, character assassination and ultimately real assassination are all seemingly everyday means to an end. Swinton quite rightly won an academy award for playing someone who knows they are doing the wrong thing and hopes they will get away with it. I recommend seeing her in the film Orlando, based on Virginia Woolf’s story.

Wilkinson plays a character that is overwhelmed with guilt over defending the bad guys. There are lots of cases where somebody in the case can’t bear it anymore and starts to talk. He knows what he must do if only to find some peace.

Clooney’s character is fully realized. His personal life is a mess and yet he tries to do the right thing even though it may kill him. He finds truth and not wealth.

The only plot point that bothers me is why Clooney stops his car on a country road to look at some horses. The thugs blow up his car and flees the scene. This unpredictable behavior saves his life, but is never clearly explained.

At the very end, where Clooney confronts the woman who tried to destroy him. He says that he is a fixer and could have been bought off. All that changed when she tried to have him killed. Her failure to negotiate early sealed her doom.

Fully realized characters and well-executed intrigue make this a great film.

Highly recommended.

Copyright 2008 All rights reserved.

Posted by dj in Movies, Reviews [1,165 Views]