In the second installment of my BA053 movie festival, I watched George Clooney doing his thing in Michael Clayton. I can see why women like Mr Clooney - he’s easy on the eye, has a nice smile, a cool voice and he wears lovely clothes, so it’s no wonder he is one of the most popular film stars around for the laydees.

However - he doesn’t seem to play on this too much, he could quite easily just do fluff movies and make loads of moolah - but he seems to have found himself quite a niche in the sort of thoughtful, well paced movies with something real to say…I’m thinking of Syriana, Good Night and Good Luck, and Solaris which appear as highlights next to blockbusters like the Oceans series and rom-coms like Intolerable Cruelty.

In Michael Clayton - he teams up with producer Steven Soderbergh to play a lawyer/fixer in a huge law firm, which is involved in a billion dollar law suit with a corporate client who is hellbent on protecting their interests.

As the previous lawyer (played by the excellent brit Tom Wilkinson) involved unravels spectacularly, Clooney gets in to help clear up - and whilst doing so uncovers the reasons behind the breakdown.

It’s a great movie - understated and quiet, tightly written and directed by Tony Gilroy - underpinned by good strong performances by Clooney and the rest who highlight the inequity of the corporate bad guys in the case but still leave enough space to develop the character of Michael Clayton. Its been out for a while in the UK and was largely overlooked - definitely one to get on DVD.