Tony Gilroy‘s best movies highlight his outstanding career as a writer and director. Gilroy began his career in Hollywood as a writer, working on a range of notable projects, including the sci-fi blockbuster Armageddon. However, he became a very sought-after name thanks to his work writing the first three movies in the Jason Bourne franchise.
Gilroy eventually moved behind the camera as well, making his directorial debut with the Oscar-winning Michael Clayton. While he is best known now as the creator of the acclaimed Star Wars series Andor, Gilroy’s work in movies has shaped an impressive career, with some notable titles standing out among the rest.
Dolores Claiborne (1995)
Only the second movie for which Tony Gilroy was a credited screenwriter, Dolores Claiborn is one of his best, along with being one of the most underrated Stephen King adaptations. Kathy Bates stars as the titular character, a housekeeper in a small town who is accused of killing the elderly woman for whom she worked.
Like The Shawshank Redemption, which came out only a year prior, Dolores Claiborne is a Stephen King adaptation that avoids the horror genre. Instead, it is a character-driven drama detailing the main character’s attempts to prove her innocence in what she claims was an accident while also confronting how the incident brings back old wounds.
The movie came and went in 1995 without much attention, and since then, it has been largely overshadowed by more high-profile King adaptations. However, it deserves to be recognized, largely due to the sensational performance from Bates, who balances the frustrating aspects of the character with the audience’s sympathy for her.
Gilroy’s script also deserves special recognition. It is certainly a departure from the source material, but it makes for a tense and emotional drama that effectively conceals the truth for much of the runtime, ensuring the audience is on the edge of their seats.
State Of Play (2009)
By the end of the 2000s, Tony Gilroy had established a reputation for delivering grounded thrillers that were aimed at older audiences. He continued to cement this style with the excellent political thriller State of Play. The movie was based on a British miniseries of the same name, but Gilroy effectively transported the story to an American setting.
Russell Crowe stars as Washington journalist Cal McAffrey, who begins looking into a story about his Congressman friend (Ben Affleck) having an affair with a murdered aide. However, he soon finds that they are both in the middle of a much larger conspiracy than he initially thought. It makes for a pulse-pounding investigation with plenty of twists.
The movie is a clever and exciting thriller, with Gilroy gradually unfolding the mystery with some effective reveals. It is also elevated by its star-studded cast, which also includes Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, and Jason Bateman. They form an ensemble of strong and realistic characters, each with their own flaws and motivations that go beyond what audiences might expect.
On top of the intense thriller aspects, State of Play is also a solid movie about investigative journalism, with the added complexity of being set within the dying newspaper industry. The necessity to produce stories that the public wants to hear about adds an interesting layer to the quest to uncover the truth.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Tony Gilroy’s work in the Star Wars universe started with a movie that really changed the franchise going forward. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story came at a time when the sequel trilogy was already underway and marked the first time there was a Star Wars spinoff movie, hinting at Disney’s plans to expand this vast universe.
Rogue One told an interesting standalone adventure that connected back to the original Star Wars. Felicity Jones stars as Jyn Erso, a young rebel who is recruited into a team with the mission to steal the plans for the original Death Star to discover its weak point and give the rebels a chance to fight back against the Empire.
Rogue One is also the movie that introduces the character of Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), Gilroy’s original character, who would get to lead his own story on the small screen. While not quite the same tone as Andor, Rogue One is a more intense and dark Star Wars story that touches on some of the gray areas of the universe.
It makes for a rollicking adventure in a galaxy far, far away, introducing some exciting new characters into this mythology while also using some preexisting ones in interesting ways. The final scene of Darth Vader fighting rebels in the hallway is perhaps the most terrifying this iconic villain has ever been.
Michael Clayton (2007)
Tony Gilroy was already established as one of Hollywood’s most trusted screenwriters, but he showed new sides of his talents stepping behind the camera for the first time with Michael Clayton. From a tight and taut script that he wrote himself, Gilroy managed to bring all the elements that his scripts had become known for and delivered a thriller masterpiece.
George Clooney stars in Michael Clayton as the titular character, a down-and-out fixer working for a very successful defense law firm, helping to get their clients and associates out of complicated situations. However, when he is tasked with dealing with a high-profile lawyer who seemingly had a breakdown, he finds himself dragged into a conspiracy.
Gilroy excels at creating real and grounded characters that the audience can relate to and become enthralled with. While the situation that Michael finds himself in gets more serious as the movie progresses, Gilroy builds it gradually from a place of realism, allowing the audience to go along without suspending disbelief.
Clooney gives one of his best performances, dropping his movie star aura to believably play a man who has experienced nothing but losses. He is joined by a strong supporting cast, including a magnetic Tom Wilkinson and an Oscar-winning turn from Tilda Swinton as the fascinating and relatable villain of the movie.
The Bourne Identity (2002)
Long before Star Wars, Tony Gilroy got his first taste of franchise filmmaking with The Bourne Identity. In the process, he helped to kickstart one of the most popular and acclaimed spy movie franchises of all time. Though Gilroy remained heavily involved, writing two acclaimed sequels and a spinoff movie, the original remains the most special.
Based on the novel by Robert Ludlum, The Bourne Identity stars Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, a man pulled out of the ocean with no memory of who he is and where he comes from. However, as he searches for answers, he discovers that he is a highly trained government assassin who is being hunted by those who created him.
Years before the James Bond franchise rebooted with Casino Royale, The Bourne Identity blended the spy movie with a grounded and gritty feel that changed the genre. The fight scenes were also fast-paced and visceral, something that was also adopted by many other action movies that followed. However, Gilroy’s sharp script helps make it an action movie with intelligence.
The first three movies make for a terrific action trilogy, and Gilroy continues to expand the story in interesting ways. Paul Greengrass also made for an ideal director for the next two movies, while Damon only grew into the action hero role. However, The Bourne Identity deserves special attention for establishing this franchise and its iconic hero.
