MICHAEL CLAYTON by Tony Gilroy
*** SPOILER WARNING ***
Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is the “fixer” of a law firm who does the non-official and – if necessary – dirty work. And he is a gambling addict, the restaurant he has opened with his brother Timmy (David Lansbury) just went bankrupt, and he owes $75.000 to the mob. And that are just his personal problems. His friend and workmate, Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), one of the top lawyers of his company, just had a mental breakdown during the negotiations in a class-action lawsuit against U-North, an agricultural products conglomerate and one of their biggest customers. Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton), just recently promoted to U-North’s chief counsel and and overstrained, finds out that Arthur is in possession of secret company documents proving U-North has knowingly produced and sold a carcinogenic herbicide, and that he is in contact with the plaintiffs. Karen will do anything to protect U-North’s interests and to prove she is up to the job. It’s Michael Clayton’s job to fix the problem, but is he good enough to fix it – or is he already part of the problem?
A cleverly constructed corporate thriller that opens with a bang (literally) and then goes back in time four days to unravel the incidents leading to the explosion of Michael Clayton’s car. But the real thriller is not about lawsuits, car-bombs and dirty legal tricks. The real questions are: What is sanity? What’s integrity worth? and Are you a human being or a corporate drone?
And that are important questions everybody should ask himself. When you are dealing with people in your professional life, it doesn’t matter if you are a top manager, hotshot lawyer or a mere clerk, the questions remain the same.
If you prefer to ponder less grave questions, then at least ask yourself if there is still space for childlike fantasy and wonder in your busy schedule – it might save your life (at least it did for Michael Clayton).
