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Michael Clayton (2007)
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Overview
User Rating:
Your Rating:
Director:
Writer (WGA):
Tony Gilroy (written by)
Release Date:
12 October 2007 (USA)
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Tagline:
The Truth Can Be Adjusted
Plot:
A law firm brings in its "fixer" to remedy the situation after a lawyer has a breakdown while representing a chemical company that he knows is guilty in a multi-billion dollar class action suit. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Won Oscar.
Another 12 wins
&
51 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(269 articles)
Favorite 100 Movies of the Decade (#100-76)
(From FilmExperience. 7 January 2010, 8:24 PM, PST)
Why the Academy Will Ignore Nicolas Cage and Tilda Swinton's Oscar-worthy Turns
(From Vanity Fair. 6 January 2010, 11:00 AM, PST)
(From FilmExperience. 7 January 2010, 8:24 PM, PST)
Why the Academy Will Ignore Nicolas Cage and Tilda Swinton's Oscar-worthy Turns
(From Vanity Fair. 6 January 2010, 11:00 AM, PST)
User Reviews:
Michael Clayton is all about the people
more (322 total)
Cast
(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:
Runtime:
119 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
UK:15 |
Ireland:15A |
Norway:11 |
Finland:K-11 |
Australia:MA |
Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) |
Canada:G (Quebec) |
Canada:PG (British Columbia) |
Germany:12 |
Denmark:11 |
Netherlands:6 |
Hong Kong:IIB |
USA:R (certificate #43163) |
Sweden:11 |
Argentina:13 |
Taiwan:R-12 (original rating) |
France:U |
Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) |
Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) |
South Korea:15 |
Singapore:NC-16 |
Brazil:12 |
South Africa:13L |
Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) |
New Zealand:M |
Norway:10 (TV rating) |
India:A
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Denzel Washington turned down the title role. George Clooney also originally turned it down, saying he was skeptical on working with a first-time director.
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Goofs:
Continuity: When Clayton first gets the booklet from the print shop, it has a black plastic binding. Later it changes to a wire one.
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Quotes:
[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 wait, just wait, just-just-just... please hear me out because this is not an episode, relapse, fuck-up, it's... I'm begging you Michael. I'm begging you. Try and make believe this is not just madness because this is not just madness. Two weeks ago I came out of the building, okay, I'm running across Sixth Avenue, there's a car waiting, I got exactly 38 minutes to get to the airport and I'm dictating. There's this, 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-I freeze, I can't move, and I'm suddenly consumed with the overwhelming sensation that I'm covered with some sort of film. It's in my hair, my face... it's like a glaze... like a... 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-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-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... 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-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 stain 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 set 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 that I have witnessed today, it must wait. It must stand the test of time. And Michael, the time is now.
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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 wait, just wait, just-just-just... please hear me out because this is not an episode, relapse, fuck-up, it's... I'm begging you Michael. I'm begging you. Try and make believe this is not just madness because this is not just madness. Two weeks ago I came out of the building, okay, I'm running across Sixth Avenue, there's a car waiting, I got exactly 38 minutes to get to the airport and I'm dictating. There's this, 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-I freeze, I can't move, and I'm suddenly consumed with the overwhelming sensation that I'm covered with some sort of film. It's in my hair, my face... it's like a glaze... like a... 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-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-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... 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-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 stain 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 set 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 that I have witnessed today, it must wait. It must stand the test of time. And Michael, the time is now.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008) (TV)
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Soundtrack:
The Thought of You
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FAQ
What's the point of the bar? What happened?What crime did Karen implicate herself in?
Is the plot of Michael Clayton based on any pre-existing publication such as book or other medium?
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more (322 total)
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In a world over-run by corporations and lawyers, the little man rarely wins. It takes a big man to keep that world in order. But sometimes another big man comes along to show who really is the big man. Or is it a woman? That said, no big man would exist without the little man - the outsider.
While you can watch this movie and see a good story develop, the story makes an interesting shift. The people become the story once the initial story has laid to bare the reason for the peoples' existence.
I enjoyed it for that very reason. The characters were all extremely interesting thanks to great performances by everyone. Clooney, Wilkinson, Pollack and especially Tilda Swinton(White Witch from Narnia) - I am in love with her acting ability. I will be doing some back-tracking to catch up on what I have missed from her. In Narnia, she was deliciously evil and in Clayton, she couldn't be any worse at being evil, but that was her character. It was fun to watch how she made weakness such a strength.
Wilkinson is such an all around great actor and makes his character seem lovable although pitiful and downright nasty for reasons I won't bring up here. Wilkinson definitely delivers.
Clooney provided the best performance in a long time. I think Clooney has long been an interesting performer but this role is just one of his best - dedicated, sometimes mysterious, loving and charming; even funny and sad.
You may look for more in the story line but you may miss the best part if you don't accept that the people are the story once the movie gets rolling.
8 of 10