Tilda Swinton for Supporting Actress

When I wrote my Oscar-nomination entry, I said I couldn't decide between Tilda Swinton and Saoirse Ronan for Supporting Actress. I don't know what I was thinking - after a second Michael Clayton viewing, it's so clearly Swinton.

Michael Clayton is a complicated man, and Michael Clayton is a complex movie. Tony Gilroy, the writer of the Bourne flicks, handles writing and directing duties on this George Clooney showcase, a brilliantly acted, entertaining but convoluted legal thriller with a conscience.

Clayton (Clooney) acts as a “fixer” for prestigious New York law firm Kenner Bach & Ledeen. He’s been called a miracle worker, a person who makes problems go away, and now the firm would like him to help with one of their own. It seems chief defense attorney - and manic-depressive - Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson) has suffered a breakdown while taking a deposition in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit for U/North (think Monsanto), and now Arthur may be working against his client. As Clayton tries to help Arthur and the firm, he discovers his friend perhaps may be on to something.

Michael Clayton epitomizes a master class in acting. Clooney, normally so charming, is a picture of weariness here. Clayton considers himself more a “janitor” than a “fixer;” he struggles with an alcoholic brother, a gambling addiction, spiraling debt, and his responsibility as a divorced dad - not to mention Arthur’s sanity and everyone’s ethics. Even in rare moments when Clayton should be buoyant, Clooney looks troubled and tired.

Clooney’s is an internal performance, unlike that of Wilkinson, who balances his explosive rants without becoming Al Pacino in The Devil’s Advocate (another Gilroy script about wild NYC lawyers). Wilkinson recites several monologues, none more delicious than a message for Kenner Bach detailing U/North’s nefariousness. Despite Arthur’s mania, Wilkinson delivers his lines crisply and devastatingly.

Tilda Swinton’s Karen literally rehearses to play chief legal counsel in the anonymous, cutthroat world of U/North. Swinton sweats (the stains are a nice touch), her voice skipping breaths as she tries to keep control … but Karen still remembers to hold that stolen folder with a plastic bag so she doesn’t leave fingerprints.

Gilroy succeeds more as a director than a writer - odd, considering that Michael Clayton represents his directorial debut, while the storyline shares more than a few similarities with the Bourne trilogy (decidedly “gray” hero, dark conglomerate). In addition to helping his actors find emotion, Gilroy effectively makes New York look cold and corporate with images of steel buildings and unfriendly cobblestone. Gilroy’s final shot lasts for nearly two wordless minutes, and it’s haunting.

However, Michael Clayton sometimes suffers as a result of Gilroy’s busy screenplay. The titular character has so many issues, and the family angle in particular suffers. We hear only a brief reference to the alcoholic brother in the first hour; then in the second hour, he and another, previously unmentioned brother play important roles. Gilroy also unnecessarily complicates the film with its early jumbled structure before settling into straight-ahead flashback.

Thanks to Wilkinson, Swinton and especially Clooney, Michael Clayton overcomes its organizational woes to become a lesson in skilled moviemaking. Forget cheap horror films and John Grisham - Michael Clayton is the true exercise in legal suspense.