- 10
It's better than good; it's such a crackling and mature and accomplished movie that it just about restores your faith.
—Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly
- 10
...an assured, intelligent thriller, the kind that never depends on clunky exposition and differentiates its heroes and villains only by the choices they make during the film.
—Alex Markerson E!
- 9
...As a first-time director, his [Gilroy] taste runs toward the classical style and not toward the Bourne shaky-cam.
—Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times
- 9
...this loving throwback to the paranoid thrillers of the ?70s is a beauty.
—Ella Taylor LA Weekly
- 9
...a gripping and complicated thriller with hush-hush undertones that would fit comfortably alongside similar films from the 1970s -- think of Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation or Alan J. Pakula's The Parallax View, because Clayton writer-director Tony Gilroy certainly had pictures of this fabric in mind.
—Sean O'Connell filmcritic.com
- 8
It will no doubt be said time and again of Michael Clayton: best John Grisham adaptation ever.
—Robert Wilonsky Village Voice
- 8
...Gilroy's tight direction and involving script help lift this admirable movie to the top of the must-see list.
—Pete Hammond Maxim
- 8
...a sharply written, twisty legal thriller and the auspicious directing debut of Tony Gilroy...
—Lou Lumenick New York Post
- 8
...makes old-style Hollywood craftsmanship look easy. It?s one of the most satisfying films of the year, recalling a classy breed of studio film more common in the 1970s and the early ?80s.
—Michael Phillips Chicago Tribune
- 8
Deliberate, demanding and character-driven, Michael Clayton flies in the face of what sells at the multiplex. I couldn't have liked it more.
—Peter Travers Rolling Stone
- 8
...a smart and suspenseful legal thriller that comes completely alive on-screen.
—Kenneth Turan Los Angeles Times
- 8
Dark in color, mood and outraged worldview, Michael Clayton is a film that speaks to the way we live now.
—Manohla Dargis New York Times
- 8
...a smart thriller that sets your heart pumping and your mind racing.
—Leah Rozen People
- 8
...[Gilroy] retains an emotional palette rich in grays and black.
—Nathan Rabin Onion AV Club
- 8
Wilkinson's sublime performance elevates Michael Clayton from an above-average thriller into the realm of greatness.
—Pam Grady Reel
- 7
...Clooney rises to the occasion Gilroy hands him, giving his best purely Clooney-esque lead performance since 1999's Out of Sight.
—Glenn Kenny Premiere
- 7
...a smart, morally complex thriller about a corporate lawyer in the grip of a midlife crisis of conscience.
—Maitland McDonagh TV Guide
- 6
...has an unnecessarily complicated structure and a surfeit of back stories.
—Peter Rainer Christian Science Monitor
- 6
Assuming a counterfeit air of complexity via subplot overload is a strategy that makes the film not unlike Clayton and his adversaries, all expert manufacturers of misleading fictions.
—Nick Schager Slant Magazine