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Michael Clayton (2007)
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Overview
Tagline:
The Truth Can Be AdjustedPlot:
An attorney known as the Fixer in his law firm comes across the biggest case of his career that could produce disastrous results for those involved. full summary | full synopsis (warning! may contain spoilers)Plot Keywords:
moreAwards:
Won Oscar. Another 10 wins & 50 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(57 articles)
Swinton Sets Up Glamour-free Film Festival (From WENN. 9 July 2008, 5:07 AM, PDT)
Thomas McCarthy to star in Emmerich’s ‘2012’ (From screeninglog. 1 July 2008, 10:10 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
Slow burner but high quality movie moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Tom Wilkinson | ... | Arthur Edens | |
| Michael O'Keefe | ... | Barry Grissom | |
| Sydney Pollack | ... | Marty Bach | |
| Danielle Skraastad | ... | Bridget Klein (voice) | |
| Tilda Swinton | ... | Karen Crowder | |
| George Clooney | ... | Michael Clayton | |
| Wai Chan | ... | Chinese Dealer | |
| Alberto Vazquez | ... | Player #1 | |
| Brian Koppelman | ... | Player #2 | |
| Thomas McCarthy | ... | Walter (voice) (as Tom McCarthy) | |
| Denis O'Hare | ... | Mr. Greer | |
| Julie White | ... | Mrs. Greer | |
| Austin Williams | ... | Henry Clayton | |
| Jennifer Van Dyck | ... | Ivy | |
| Frank Wood | ... | Gerald |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated R for language including some sexual dialogue.Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
119 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 moreCertification:
France:U | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | Netherlands:6 | Hong Kong:IIB | South Africa:13L | Norway:11 | Finland:K-11 | Brazil:12 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Sweden:11 | Denmark:11 | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) | Taiwan:R-12 (original rating) | Australia:MA | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Singapore:NC-16 | Ireland:15A | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #43163) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Canada:G (Quebec) | New Zealand:MMOVIEmeter: 
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Three previous Best Director Academy Award winners served as producers and/or executive producers to this film: Sydney Pollack (Producer), Anthony Minghella (Exec. Producer) and Steven Soderbergh (Exec. Producer). moreGoofs:
Continuity: When Clayton is in Arthur's loft and he picks up the red book from the coffee table, you can clearly see the folded slip of paper sticking out from the bottom. A moment later, as he's flipping through the book, he almost doesn't see the paper because it's all the way inside. moreQuotes:
[first lines]Arthur Edens: Michael. Dear Michael. Of course it's you, who else could they send, who else could be trusted? I... I know it's a long way and you're ready to go to work... all I'm saying is just wait, just... just wait and please just hear me out because this is not an episode, relapse, fuck-up, it's... I'm begging you Michael. I'm begging you. Try to make believe this is not just madness because this is not just madness. Two weeks ago I came out of the building ok, I'm running across 6th avenue there's a car waiting, I've got exactly 38 minutes to get to the airport and I'm dictating. There's this panicked associate sprinting along beside me, scribbling in a notepad, and suddenly she starts screaming, and I realize we're standing in the middle of the street, the light's changed, there's this wall of traffic, serious traffic speeding towards us, and I... I freeze, I can't move, and I'm suddenly consumed with the overwhelming sensation that I'm covered in some sort of film. It's in my hair, my face... it's like a glaze... a coating, and... at first I thought, oh my god, I know what this is, this is some sort of amniotic - embryonic - fluid. I'm drenched in afterbirth, I've breached the chrysalis, I've been reborn. But then the traffic, the stampede, the cars, the trucks, the horns, the screaming and I'm thinking no-no-no, reset, this is not rebirth, this is some kind of giddy illusion of renewal that happens in the final moment before death. And then I realize no-no-no, this is completely wrong because I look back at the building and I had the most stunning moment of clarity. I... I... I realized Michael, that I had emerged not from the doors of Kenner, Bach, and Ledeen, not through the portals of our vast and powerful law firm, but from the asshole of an organism whose sole function is to excrete the... the... the poison, the ammo, the defoliant necessary for other, larger, more powerful organisms to destroy the miracle of humanity. And that I had been coated in this patina of shit for the best part of my life. The stench of it and the sting of it would in all likelihood take the rest of my life to undo. And you know what I did? I took a deep cleansing breath and I put that notion aside. I tabled it. I said to myself as clear as this may be, as potent a feeling as this is, as true a thing as I believe I witnessed today, it must wait. It must stand the test of time, and Michael, the time is now.
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Soundtrack:
Midnight Cocktail moreFAQ
Is the plot of Michael Clayton based on any pre-existing publication such as book or other medium?What crime did Karen implicate herself in?
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After seeing "Superbad" last weekend, I needed a grown-up antidote and this movie is certainly that. A slow moving, adult, serious movie with a message.
The movie has a number of themes including ageing, corruption, principles and truth. The movie's message is that there is more to life than making money.
The acting is uniformly good but Clooney is outstanding. His character is complex and he's pretty unhappy with what he has become. But it's all done very subtly. There are no obvious messages in this movie. As another reviewer wrote, you have to pay attention.
Don't read too much into my "slow moving/slow burner" descriptions. This movie is not boring. It just doesn't whiz along with one implausible twist after another. It's evenly paced with an almost complete lack of silly plot lines (there was no need for the lawyer in crisis to remove his clothes during a trial).
Everyone involved in this movie deserves praise for producing a challenging, grown-up, movie-with-a-message in the face of a torrent of mindless nonsense.
Highly recommended.