By Mike Collett-White
Fri Aug 31, 11:38 AM ET
VENICE (Reuters) -
George Clooney plays a burned out
"fixer" for a New York law firm in his latest movie, which
tackles corporate corruption, personal greed and the moral
dilemmas people face at the workplace every day.
Tony Gilroy makes his directorial debut with "Michael
Clayton," in competition at the Venice film festival where it
has its world premiere on Friday.
Clooney, 46, who has a home in Italy and is a favorite in
Venice, said he was not paid for playing the title role,
underlining his habit of mixing Hollywood blockbusters with
smaller-budget films tackling topical issues.
Clayton is called at all hours to iron out clients' and
employees' legal problems, and also has to deal with a gambling
habit, personal debts and a complicated family life that leave
him depressed and morally adrift.
Playing a character with black bags under his eyes and a
hang-dog look, Clooney leaves the glamour at the studio door
for "Clayton."
"He's a man at the end of his rope, basically, he's used up
all his options and everything is closing in on him," Clooney
told reporters after the film was screened to the press. Early
reviews of the movie and his performance have been good.
Gilroy said he wanted to explore not only corporate culture
and corruption, but more importantly the individuals inside
companies and why they do what they do.
"All these corporations that you're talking about, they're
all inhabited by people," he said. "It's all decisions, people
in rooms, people decide.
"And people go home and they love their children and they
see their kids, but every day they go back and they make little
small paper cuts on their morality."
MORALLY BANKRUPT
Perhaps the most morally bankrupt of all the characters in
the film is in-house counsel Karen Crowder, played by British
actress Tilda Swinton.
Determined to settle a lawsuit worth millions of dollars to
her employer, she stops at nothing to push the deal through.
"I've all my life wondered (what) it takes people to do
inhuman things," she said. "(The film) takes each inhuman
decision and looks for the human point of decision in it."
Clayton gets sucked into a dangerous cover-up when a
colleague and friend threatens to expose the swindle.
Clooney was visibly irritated when asked if his endorsement
of products for big companies clashed in any way with his
performance in a film about corporate greed and corruption.
"I'm not going to apologize to you for trying to make a
living once in a while," he said. "I don't really have an
answer for you on that. It's sort of an irritating question."
After switching off his microphone, he continued to mutter
angrily, although it was inaudible to the audience.
