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Michael Clayton
2007 film directed by Tony Gilroy From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Michael Clayton is a 2007 American legal thriller film by writer and director Tony Gilroy. It stars George Clooney as lawyer Michael Clayton, who discovers a coverup of criminal wrongdoing by one of his firm's clients. Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, and Sydney Pollack appear in supporting roles.[4]
Released on October 5, 2007, the film grossed $93 million worldwide. It was praised for Gilroy's direction and screenplay, and the performances of the cast, with Swinton's performance particularly lauded. Michael Clayton was nominated for seven Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor for Clooney, Best Supporting Actor for Wilkinson, and Best Supporting Actress for Swinton, which she won.
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Plot
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Michael Clayton is a "fixer" for a prestigious New York City law firm. One night, Michael leaves a poker game to attend to a client in Westchester County. Driving home, Michael sees horses standing at the top of a hill near leafless trees. He gets out of his car and approaches them. Behind him, a bomb detonates in his car.
Four days earlier, the firm dispatched Clayton to deal with a crisis created when Arthur Edens, one of the firm's litigators, suffered a manic episode in the middle of a deposition. Edens had been conducting the defense of U-North, an agricultural conglomerate, in a six-year-long three-billion-dollar class action lawsuit, which his outburst was designed to jeopardize.
Michael bails Arthur out of jail in Milwaukee and learns Arthur is no longer taking his medication. Michael's son Henry speaks with Arthur after Arthur answers Michael's phone. Henry tells Arthur about a chapter in a fantasy book, Realm & Conquest, that concerns the summoning of heroes to their destiny, which Arthur interprets as a sign to continue undermining U-North. Arthur escapes from his hotel room and returns to New York.
Michael approaches Marty Bach, the firm's managing partner, requesting a loan to cover a failed investment in a restaurant Michael made with his ne'er-do-well brother, Timmy. Marty suggests Michael will be rewarded if he can get Arthur back on track but warns the firm will be finished if he fails.
Karen Crowder, U-North's general counsel, discovers that Arthur has a confidential U-North memo proving the company knew its weed killer did in fact cause the hundreds of deaths that sparked the lawsuit. U-North CEO Don Jeffries, whose signature is on the memo, puts Crowder in contact with two operatives, who follow Arthur and bug his apartment and phone.
Michael finds Arthur on a Manhattan street and confronts him about calls he made to Anna Kaiserson, the plaintiff being deposed during his episode, leading Arthur to realize his calls are monitored. Arthur calls his own voicemail at the firm and says he will go public with the memo. Karen directs the operatives to take lethal action. The two break into Arthur's apartment, murder him with an injection, and make it look like suicide by drug overdose.
Michael learns of Arthur's death and becomes suspicious when he discovers U-North was planning a settlement just a few days before, and that Arthur had booked a flight to New York for Anna. He finds Anna and learns that she told no one of her conversations with Arthur, yet the firm somehow knew. With help from his brother Gene, a police officer, Michael breaks into Arthur's apartment, which is sealed as a crime scene. Michael finds Arthur's dogeared copy of Realm & Conquest, which contains an illustration of a horse on a hill with barren trees, and highlighting and annotations throughout the chapter Henry mentioned. The book also contains a receipt from a photocopy shop, which Michael pockets. Two police officers soon arrive on a tip from the operatives, who have been trailing Michael. Michael is arrested, but Gene bails him out.
Taking the receipt to the copy shop, Michael discovers that Arthur ordered 3,000 copies of the incriminating memo. Marty offers Michael the money he requested, but insists Michael also sign a non-disclosure agreement covering his vast knowledge of the firm and its personnel.
Michael accepts the money, gives up on pursuing Arthur's lead, and pays off his restaurant debt. That night, during the events depicted at the film's opening, the operatives rig Michael's car with a bomb and follow him through Westchester. After he approaches the horses on the hill, the operatives detonate his car. Michael hides with Timmy's help.
At a U-North board meeting, Karen proposes that the board approve a lawsuit settlement. Michael confronts her alone and goads her into offering him $10 million for his silence. When Karen agrees, Michael reveals he is wearing a wire, with Gene and other NYPD detectives listening. As the police move in, Michael gets into a cab and rides away.
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Cast
- George Clooney as Michael Clayton, attorney at Kenner, Bach, and Ledeen
- Tom Wilkinson as Arthur Edens, attorney at Kenner, Bach, and Ledeen
- Tilda Swinton as Karen Crowder, counsel at U-North
- Sydney Pollack as Marty Bach, managing partner at Kenner, Bach, and Ledeen
- Michael O'Keefe as Barry Grissom, attorney at Kenner, Bach, and Ledeen
- Ken Howard as Don Jeffries, U-North's CEO
- Denis O'Hare as Mr. Greer
- Sean Cullen as Gene Clayton, Michael's brother, a police detective
- Merritt Wever as Anna, one of the plaintiffs against U-North
- David Lansbury as Timmy Clayton, Michael's brother
- David Zayas as Detective Dalberto
- Robert Prescott as Verne, the principal hit man
- Terry Serpico as Iker, the second hit man
- Julie White as Mrs. Greer
- Austin Williams as Henry Clayton, Michael's young son
- Bill Raymond as Gabe Zabel
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Production
Casting
Denzel Washington was offered the lead role. He liked the script, but turned the role down due to concern about Gilroy as a first-time director. He later said he regretted the decision.[5]
Release
Theatrical
Principal photography took place from January 30 to April 7, 2006. The film premiered on August 31, 2007, at the Venice Film Festival. It was shown at the American Films Festival of Deauville on September 2, 2007, and at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7. It opened in the United Kingdom on September 28, and at the Dubai Film Festival in December. It opened in limited release in the United States on October 5, 2007, and in wide release in the US on October 12. It grossed $10.3 million in the opening week. It was rereleased on January 25, 2008. It grossed $49 million in North America and $92.9 million worldwide.[3]
Home media
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 19, 2008, and on HD DVD on March 11, 2008.
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Critical reception
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On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 90% based on 205 reviews, with an average rating of 7.60/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Michael Clayton is one of the most sharply scripted films of 2007, with an engrossing premise and faultless acting. Director Tony Gilroy succeeds not only in capturing the audience's attention, but holding it until the credits roll."[6] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 36 critics indicating "universal acclaim".[7] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a B on an A+ to F scale.[8]
Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave it an A, saying that it was "better than good, it just about restores your faith". Roger Ebert gave it a full four stars[9] and Richard Roeper named it the best film of the year.[10] It was also Richard Schickel's top film of 2007, and he called it "a morally alert, persuasively realistic and increasingly suspenseful melodrama, impeccably acted and handsomely staged by Tony Gilroy".[11] Time wrote, "Michael Clayton is not an exercise in high-tension energy; you'll never confuse its eponymous protagonist with Jason Bourne. But it does have enough of a melodramatic pulse to keep you engaged in its story and, better than that, it is full of plausible characters who are capable of surprising—and surpassing—your expectations".[11] Stanley Kauffmann of The New Republic wrote that "Gilroy's film is distinguished beyond its components by its purpose, its compassion, its interest—increasingly manifest—in the soul".[12]
Michael Clayton appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007.[13] It was also on Time magazine's 2012 list of 10 memorable ending scenes.[14] In 2025, it ranked 93rd on The New York Times's list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century" and 78th on the "Readers' Choice" edition of the list.[15][16] In July 2025, it ranked 73rd on Rolling Stone's list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century".[17]
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Accolades
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Soundtrack
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Michael Clayton was composed by James Newton Howard and released on September 25, 2007, on the Varèse Sarabande label.[20] It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score.
Notes and references
External links
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