Came out today in London and gotta say this was, as a quasi-serious mainstream entertainment, a good couple of notches better than I expected. Tony Gilroy's screenplay is rather generic in its essentials (if you've seen a legal thriller about a class action before, you know the basic story) and rather tricked up with peripheral business (like the bizarre swords and sorcery novel motif) that didn't add enough, in my view, to justify inclusion - but his direction is incredibly assured and controlled (compare and contrast with Joe Wright's constant flailing and straining for effect in Atonement), and the performances are mostly excellent (career best for Clooney: a compelling portrayal of a nearly-man only just living with how much he hates himself, but always, always, bottling it up). Worth seeing.
