"Clooney can suggest depths of weary self-loathing...and his eventual hard-won redemption accordingly carries more emotional weight....Gilroy draws vivid performances from his cast..."
Sight and Sound

4 stars out of 4 -- "A deftly written, tautly suspenseful and intellectually demanding morality tale, it stays a step ahead of the audience and features multidimensional characters played by actors at the top of their games."
USA Today

"Dark in color, mood and outraged worldview, MICHAEL CLAYTON is a film that speaks to the way we live now....[The film is] adult, sincere, intelligent, absorbing..."
New York Times

"[A] terrifically engrossing, tethered-to-the-real-world drama....It's better than good; it's such a crackling and mature and accomplished movie that it just about restores your faith."
Entertainment Weekly

3.5 stars out of 4 -- "[T]he film is a triumph for George Clooney, who is at the top of his dramatic form in the title role..."
Rolling Stone

"[A] smart and suspenseful legal thriller that comes completely alive on-screen."
Los Angeles Times

"[A] solid, well-crafted, beautifully written and acted thriller....The execution is splendid and the dramatic payoff is considerable..."
Film Comment

4 stars out of 5 -- "[With] Tom Wilkinson as a hot-shot lawyer in spectacular meltdown. Tilda Swinton is also memorable as a conniving suit....A very grown-up thriller."
Uncut

4 stars out of 5 -- "Clooney plays against his movie star persona, delivering a subtle performance....Thematically MICHAEL CLAYTON bears some comparison to THE INSIDER and, like that film, any morally satisfying pay-off is tempered by the human cost of corporate greed."
Ultimate DVD

"[T]he pieces coalesce into a stirring portrait of a man reclaiming his soul from a scrap heap of discarded principles."
Wall Street Journal