Connection with the previous post (I AM LEGEND): JAMES NEWTON HOWARD wrote the music for both films.
RATINGS: IMDB ― 7.3/10, Rotten Tomatoes ― 70%, ME ― 75%
[Karen Crowder exits from the ballroom]
Michael Clayton: (to Karen Crowder) How'd it go in there.
(Karen turns toward him)
Michael Clayton: Pretty creepy, huh? Did you see Arthur, he's wondering' around here somewhere. (he walks over to her) I'm kidding. Lighten up.
Michael Clayton: (he walks over to her holding a red folder) You got one of these? It's a great memo. It's an oldie but a goodie. I've got your heart racing, don't I?
Karen Crowder: I don't know what the hell it is you think you're doing.
Michael Clayton: What do you think I'm doing?
Karen Crowder: This is over, we have a deal. Whatever that is it's meaningless at this point.
Michael Clayton: You think? I must have gotten it wrong, I thought you had a tentative proposal. I didn't realize you'd signed all those checks. It's a drag.
Michael Clayton: (holds up the folder) I've got a thousand of these, I don't know what to do with them.
Karen Crowder: I'm calling Marty
Michael Clayton: Good, good. Do it, that's a great place to start. Let's find out who told him that Arthur was calling Anna Kieserson. Let's find out who tapped those phones.
Karen Crowder: This, this memorandum, even if it's authentic, which I doubt, I highly...
Michael Clayton: I know what you did to Arthur...
Karen Crowder: ...it's protected, it belongs to U-North...
Michael Clayton: I know you killed him.
Karen Crowder: ...it's a cut and dried case of by attorney-client privilege.
Michael Clayton: See now that's just not the way to go here, Karen. For such a smart person you really are lost, aren't you.
Karen Crowder: This conversation is over. (she starts to walk away)
Michael Clayton: I'm not the guy that you kill, I'm the guy that you buy. Are you so fucking blind you don't even see what I am? I'm the easiest part of your whole goddam plan and you're gonna kill me? Don't you know who I am? I'm a fixer, I'm a bag man. I do everything from shoplifting housewives to bent congressmen and you're gonna kill me?
Michael Clayton: (pause) What do you need, Karen? Lay it on me. You want a carry permit, you want a heads-up on an insider trading subpeona? I sold out Arthur for 80 grand and a three year contract and you're gonna kill me?
Karen Crowder: What do you want?
Michael Clayton: What do I want? I want more. I want out, and with this, I want everything.
Karen Crowder: Is there a number?
Michael Clayton: Ten is a number?
Karen Crowder: Ten? Ten what? Ten million? Where do you think I'm gonna get 10 million dollars?
Michael Clayton: You know what's great about this? Did you read it all the way to the end. Did you see who signed this? Let's go into that ballroom and ask Don Jefferies if he wants to pass the hat for a worthy cause?
Karen Crowder: This would have to be a longer conversation, and it would have to take place somewhere else.
Michael Clayton: Where, my car? (pause) All right, I'm gonna make it easy. Five, five and I'll forget about Arthur.
Karen Crowder: Five is easier. Now five is something we could talk about.
Michael Clayton: Good. And then the other five is for me to forget about the 468 people you knocked off with your weed killer.
Karen Crowder: Let me finish this meeting, I'll talk to...
Michael Clayton: Do I look like I'm negotiating?
Don Jefferies: (exits from the ballroom) Karen?
Karen Crowder: (turns to Jefferies) One second.
Don Jefferies: Everything OK?
Karen Crowder: (to Clayton) Yes.
Michael Clayton: Ten million dollars, bank of my choosing offshore, immediately.
Karen Crowder: Yes.
Michael Clayton: Say it!
Karen Crowder: Ten million dollars, your account, the moment this meeting is over.
Don Jefferies: Karen, everyone's waiting!
Karen Crowder: (to Don Jefferies) I'm coming Don!
Karen Crowder: (to Michael Clayton) You have a deal.
Michael Clayton: You're so fucked.
Karen Crowder: What?
Michael Clayton: You're fucked.
Karen Crowder: What do you mean?
Michael Clayton: Take a wild guess.
Don Jefferies: (to Karen Crowder) Is there a problem?
Karen Crowder: (to Michael Clayton) I don't understand.
Michael Clayton: Here, let me get a picture while I'm at it.
(takes a photo with his phone)
Karen Crowder: You don't want the money?
Michael Clayton: No, you keep the money, you'll need it.
Don Jefferies: (to Karen Crowder) Is this fellow bothering you?
Michael Clayton: (to Karen Crowder) I don't know, am I bothering you?
Don Jefferies: Karen, I've got a whole board waiting for you. What the hell is going on?
Don Jefferies: (to Michael Clayton) Who are you?
Michael Clayton: (to Don Jefferies) I'm Shiva the God of Death.
(he walks away)
George Clooney as Michael Clayton, Tilda Swinton as Karen Crowder and Ken Howard as Don Jefferies
Trivia (From IMDB):
Denzel Washington turned down the title role, saying he was skeptical of working with a first-time director. George Clooney also originally turned it down for the same reason.
Was the only movie at the Oscars in 2008 to receive more than one acting nomination―it received three.
All the scenes with Jennifer Ehle as Michael's girlfriend were cut, one of which is included in the Deleted Scenes feature of the DVD release.
The "Realm and Conquest" fantasy novel that Michael Clayton's son recommends to Arthur Edens is a prop created for the movie.
Committed to a fully developed back story, director Tony Gilroy spent a good deal of time establishing the details of "Realm and Conquest" with production designer Kevin Thompson. The director explains that right from the beginning, when he first read the script, he could tell that "Realm and Conquest" was going to be a key prop. In the movie it's a metaphor for truth and justice. In creating the details of the fictional novel, Thompson generated original visuals inspired by German Expressionistic images cut from wood blocks, and Gilroy wrote the first two pages for three chapters of the book. They even went as far as designing a "Realm and Conquest" card game for a scene between Henry and Michael. Thompson offers, "This detail was important to Tony because, in his own life, novels and games similar to 'Realm and Conquest' allow him to connect with his son in a meaningful way."
Directorial debut of Tony Gilroy.
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).
Tony Gilroy grew up in Orange County, New York, about 65 miles north of New York City. In the film, Michael Clayton graduated from Washingtonville Central High School in 1977. Gilroy graduated from Washingtonville High School in 1974. Clayton's home is in Blooming Grove, NY. The scene where Michael boards a private jet was filmed at Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, NY. The pivotal car accident was filmed at the Moodna Viaduct in Salisbury Mills, NY.
The film cast includes three Oscar winners: George Clooney, Tilda Swinton and Sydney Pollack; and five Oscar nominees: Tom Wilkinson, Michael O'Keefe, Tom McCarthy, Douglas McGrath and Tony Gilroy.
Early on in the process of making this film, director Tony Gilroy secured Sydney Pollack as one of the producers. Gilroy said in an interview, regarding Pollack, "He read the script and wanted to direct it himself, and I told him I was saving it for me."
Both George Clooney and Michael O'Keefe played boyfriends of Laurie Metcalf on Roseanne (1988).
Release prints were shipped to some theaters under the fake title "State's Attorneys".
Katherine Waterston's feature film debut.
During a scene were Edens is wandering through Times Square, a U-North advertisement appears on a massive video screen. Beneath the screen on the side of a bus is another advertisement for a musical called Wicked. While Wicked is about the witches of Oz, its appearance in the same shot as the name of the company Edens was defending is appropriately coincidental given the plot of the movie.
George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, and Tom Wilkinson have all been in comic book movies. George Clooney played Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman & Robin (1997), Tilda Swinton played the Ancient One in Doctor Strange (2016), and Tom Wilkinson played Carmine Falcone in Batman Begins (2005), making him and Clooney related to the same media.
Spoilers ―
[Karen Crowder exits from the ballroom]
Michael Clayton: (to Karen Crowder) How'd it go in there.
(Karen turns toward him)
Michael Clayton: Pretty creepy, huh? Did you see Arthur, he's wondering' around here somewhere. (he walks over to her) I'm kidding. Lighten up.
Michael Clayton: (he walks over to her holding a red folder) You got one of these? It's a great memo. It's an oldie but a goodie. I've got your heart racing, don't I?
Karen Crowder: I don't know what the hell it is you think you're doing.
Michael Clayton: What do you think I'm doing?
Karen Crowder: This is over, we have a deal. Whatever that is it's meaningless at this point.
Michael Clayton: You think? I must have gotten it wrong, I thought you had a tentative proposal. I didn't realize you'd signed all those checks. It's a drag.
Michael Clayton: (holds up the folder) I've got a thousand of these, I don't know what to do with them.
Karen Crowder: I'm calling Marty
Michael Clayton: Good, good. Do it, that's a great place to start. Let's find out who told him that Arthur was calling Anna Kieserson. Let's find out who tapped those phones.
Karen Crowder: This, this memorandum, even if it's authentic, which I doubt, I highly...
Michael Clayton: I know what you did to Arthur...
Karen Crowder: ...it's protected, it belongs to U-North...
Michael Clayton: I know you killed him.
Karen Crowder: ...it's a cut and dried case of by attorney-client privilege.
Michael Clayton: See now that's just not the way to go here, Karen. For such a smart person you really are lost, aren't you.
Karen Crowder: This conversation is over. (she starts to walk away)
Michael Clayton: I'm not the guy that you kill, I'm the guy that you buy. Are you so fucking blind you don't even see what I am? I'm the easiest part of your whole goddam plan and you're gonna kill me? Don't you know who I am? I'm a fixer, I'm a bag man. I do everything from shoplifting housewives to bent congressmen and you're gonna kill me?
Michael Clayton: (pause) What do you need, Karen? Lay it on me. You want a carry permit, you want a heads-up on an insider trading subpeona? I sold out Arthur for 80 grand and a three year contract and you're gonna kill me?
Karen Crowder: What do you want?
Michael Clayton: What do I want? I want more. I want out, and with this, I want everything.
Karen Crowder: Is there a number?
Michael Clayton: Ten is a number?
Karen Crowder: Ten? Ten what? Ten million? Where do you think I'm gonna get 10 million dollars?
Michael Clayton: You know what's great about this? Did you read it all the way to the end. Did you see who signed this? Let's go into that ballroom and ask Don Jefferies if he wants to pass the hat for a worthy cause?
Karen Crowder: This would have to be a longer conversation, and it would have to take place somewhere else.
Michael Clayton: Where, my car? (pause) All right, I'm gonna make it easy. Five, five and I'll forget about Arthur.
Karen Crowder: Five is easier. Now five is something we could talk about.
Michael Clayton: Good. And then the other five is for me to forget about the 468 people you knocked off with your weed killer.
Karen Crowder: Let me finish this meeting, I'll talk to...
Michael Clayton: Do I look like I'm negotiating?
Don Jefferies: (exits from the ballroom) Karen?
Karen Crowder: (turns to Jefferies) One second.
Don Jefferies: Everything OK?
Karen Crowder: (to Clayton) Yes.
Michael Clayton: Ten million dollars, bank of my choosing offshore, immediately.
Karen Crowder: Yes.
Michael Clayton: Say it!
Karen Crowder: Ten million dollars, your account, the moment this meeting is over.
Don Jefferies: Karen, everyone's waiting!
Karen Crowder: (to Don Jefferies) I'm coming Don!
Karen Crowder: (to Michael Clayton) You have a deal.
Michael Clayton: You're so fucked.
Karen Crowder: What?
Michael Clayton: You're fucked.
Karen Crowder: What do you mean?
Michael Clayton: Take a wild guess.
Don Jefferies: (to Karen Crowder) Is there a problem?
Karen Crowder: (to Michael Clayton) I don't understand.
Michael Clayton: Here, let me get a picture while I'm at it.
(takes a photo with his phone)
Karen Crowder: You don't want the money?
Michael Clayton: No, you keep the money, you'll need it.
Don Jefferies: (to Karen Crowder) Is this fellow bothering you?
Michael Clayton: (to Karen Crowder) I don't know, am I bothering you?
Don Jefferies: Karen, I've got a whole board waiting for you. What the hell is going on?
Don Jefferies: (to Michael Clayton) Who are you?
Michael Clayton: (to Don Jefferies) I'm Shiva the God of Death.
(he walks away)
George Clooney as Michael Clayton, Tilda Swinton as Karen Crowder and Ken Howard as Don Jefferies
Trivia (From IMDB):
Denzel Washington turned down the title role, saying he was skeptical of working with a first-time director. George Clooney also originally turned it down for the same reason.
Was the only movie at the Oscars in 2008 to receive more than one acting nomination―it received three.
All the scenes with Jennifer Ehle as Michael's girlfriend were cut, one of which is included in the Deleted Scenes feature of the DVD release.
The "Realm and Conquest" fantasy novel that Michael Clayton's son recommends to Arthur Edens is a prop created for the movie.
Committed to a fully developed back story, director Tony Gilroy spent a good deal of time establishing the details of "Realm and Conquest" with production designer Kevin Thompson. The director explains that right from the beginning, when he first read the script, he could tell that "Realm and Conquest" was going to be a key prop. In the movie it's a metaphor for truth and justice. In creating the details of the fictional novel, Thompson generated original visuals inspired by German Expressionistic images cut from wood blocks, and Gilroy wrote the first two pages for three chapters of the book. They even went as far as designing a "Realm and Conquest" card game for a scene between Henry and Michael. Thompson offers, "This detail was important to Tony because, in his own life, novels and games similar to 'Realm and Conquest' allow him to connect with his son in a meaningful way."
Directorial debut of Tony Gilroy.
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).
Tony Gilroy grew up in Orange County, New York, about 65 miles north of New York City. In the film, Michael Clayton graduated from Washingtonville Central High School in 1977. Gilroy graduated from Washingtonville High School in 1974. Clayton's home is in Blooming Grove, NY. The scene where Michael boards a private jet was filmed at Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, NY. The pivotal car accident was filmed at the Moodna Viaduct in Salisbury Mills, NY.
The film cast includes three Oscar winners: George Clooney, Tilda Swinton and Sydney Pollack; and five Oscar nominees: Tom Wilkinson, Michael O'Keefe, Tom McCarthy, Douglas McGrath and Tony Gilroy.
Early on in the process of making this film, director Tony Gilroy secured Sydney Pollack as one of the producers. Gilroy said in an interview, regarding Pollack, "He read the script and wanted to direct it himself, and I told him I was saving it for me."
Both George Clooney and Michael O'Keefe played boyfriends of Laurie Metcalf on Roseanne (1988).
Release prints were shipped to some theaters under the fake title "State's Attorneys".
Katherine Waterston's feature film debut.
During a scene were Edens is wandering through Times Square, a U-North advertisement appears on a massive video screen. Beneath the screen on the side of a bus is another advertisement for a musical called Wicked. While Wicked is about the witches of Oz, its appearance in the same shot as the name of the company Edens was defending is appropriately coincidental given the plot of the movie.
George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, and Tom Wilkinson have all been in comic book movies. George Clooney played Bruce Wayne/Batman in Batman & Robin (1997), Tilda Swinton played the Ancient One in Doctor Strange (2016), and Tom Wilkinson played Carmine Falcone in Batman Begins (2005), making him and Clooney related to the same media.
Spoilers ―
The Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan that is blown up in this film was first used in filming of The Devil Wears Prada (2006). For the earlier film it was cut in two for use in process shots featuring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway. It was then welded back together and repainted in order to be blown up in Michael Clayton (2007). The car's preparation was featured on Shooting Cars (2006).
One of the horses used in the scene where Michael Clayton's Car blows up, is the horse from the movie "Casey's Shadow".
Terry Serpico, David Zayas, and Sydney Pollack appear in the 2005's The Interpreter directed by Sydney Pollack.
One of the horses used in the scene where Michael Clayton's Car blows up, is the horse from the movie "Casey's Shadow".
Terry Serpico, David Zayas, and Sydney Pollack appear in the 2005's The Interpreter directed by Sydney Pollack.
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