Michael Clayton
Born Today
Home / Michael Clayton

Michael Clayton

Year:
Duration:
119 min
Genres:
Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller
IMDB rate:
7.3
Director:
Tony Gilroy
Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 30 wins & 90 nominations
Details
Country: USA
Release Date: 2007-10-12
Filming Locations: Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
Earnings
Budget: $25,000,000
Opening Weekend: $719,910 (USA) (7 October 2007)
Gross: $49,024,969 (USA) (16 March 2008)
Cast
Actor
Character
George Clooney
George Clooney
Michael Clayton
Amy Hargreaves
Amy Hargreaves
Michael Clayton
Tom Wilkinson
Arthur Edens
Michael O'Keefe
Barry Grissom
Sydney Pollack
Marty Bach
Danielle Skraastad
Bridget Klein
Tilda Swinton
Karen Crowder
Wai Chan
Chinese Dealer
Alberto Vazquez
Player #1
Brian Koppelman
Player #2
Thomas McCarthy
Walter
Denis O'Hare
Mr. Greer
Julie White
Mrs. Greer
Austin Williams
Henry Clayton
Jennifer Van Dyck
Ivy
Frank Wood
Gerald
Richard Hecht
Auctioneer
Bill Raymond
Gabe Zabel
Jonathan Walker
Del
Sharon Washington
Pam
Cynthia Mace
Wendy
Michael Countryman
Evan
Ken Howard
Don Jeffries
Susan Pellegrino
Secretary
Rachel Black
Maude
Matthew Detmer
Todd
John Douglas Thompson
Jail Guard
Merritt Wever
Anna
Brian Poteat
Deposition Lawyer
Christopher Mann
Lieutenant Elston
Edward Furs
Milwaukee Captain
Katherine Waterston
Third Year
John Gerard Franklin
Correction Officer
Remy Auberjonois
Fifth Year
Pun Bandhu
Fourth Year
Jason Strong
First Year
Robert Prescott
Mr. Verne
Paul Oquist
Starter
Terry Serpico
Mr. Iker
Heidi Armbruster
Anna's Sister
Pamela Gray
Cindy Bach
Andrew Hunter Sherman
U
Kevin Hagan
Raymond Clayton
Julia Gibson
Stephanie Clayton
Sean Cullen
Gene Clayton
Susan Egbert
Michelle
David Lansbury
Timmy Clayton
David Zayas
Detective Dalberto
Douglas McGrath
Jeff Gaffney
Gregory Dann
Cop
Cathy Diane Tomlin
Cop #2
Sam Gilroy
Copy Kid
Maggie Siff
Attorney #1
Sarah Nichols
Barry's Assistant
Susan McBrien
Jean
Jordan Lage
Partner
Neal Huff
First Associate
Paul Juhn
Second Associate
Patrick Askin
Auction Bidder (uncredited)
Kevin Cannon
Auction Worker (uncredited)
Clem Cheung
Landlord (uncredited)
Tony Gilroy
Taxi Driver (uncredited) (voice)
Emelie Jeffries
Raymond Clayton's Nurse (uncredited)
Owen Lund
Ron
Kimmy Suzuki
Copy Shop Clerk
Robert Torres
Parking Lot Attendant (uncredited)
Steven Weisz
Executive (uncredited)
Did you know?
Trivia
The "Realm and Conquest" fantasy novel that Michael Clayton's son recommends to Arthur Edens is a prop created for the movie.
Share this
The film's director Tony Gilroy grew up about 65 miles north of New York City in Orange County, New York and did not forget where he came from in his directorial debut. It is mentioned that Michael Clayton attended Washingtonville Central High School; graduating in 1977. Gilroy, himself, graduated from Washingtonville High School in 1974. The home of Michael Clayton depicted in the film is actually in Blooming Grove, NY. The airport where Michael boards a private jet was filmed at Stewart International Airport in New Windsor/Newburgh, NY. And the pivotal moment of the film involving an incident with a main character's automobile was filmed at the Moodna Viaduct in Salisbury Mills, NY. All of these locales are within 7 miles of his hometown.
Share this
Directorial debut of Tony Gilroy.
Share this
Goofs
When Clayton first gets the booklet from the print shop, it has a black plastic binding. Later it changes to a wire one.
Share this
The second time that Memorandum 229 is shown (when Karen brings it to Marty Bach), it is signed "Don Jeffries", but in all other shots it is signed "Donald Jeffries"
Share this
The cop tells Michael Clayton about Arthur's death, "There were pills all over the place." This would not have been possible, whether they were scattered on the floor or, as the murder scene suggested, shaken into the sink, because the bathroom was flooded, presumably from the sink where the pills would have been taken. The water would have dissolved any pills in the time it would have taken to flood the downstairs.
Share this
Quotes
Arthur Edens: Yes! Here we are, all together. Is everyone listening? 'Cause this is the moment you've been waiting for, a very special piece of paper, so let's have a big, paranoid, malignant round of applause... for United Northfield Culcitate Internal Research Memorandum #229! June 19th, 1991. "Conclusion: The unanticipated marketing growth for Culcitate by small farms in colder climates demands IMMEDIATE cost-benefit analysis." Hah. Would you like a little bit of legal advice? NEVER let a scientist use the words "unanticipated" and "immediate" in the same sentence. Okay? Okay. "In-house field studies have indicated small, short-season farms dependent on well water for human consumption are at risk for toxic, particulate concentrations at levels significant enough to cause serious human tissue damage." Well, this is a long way of saying that you don't even have to leave your house to be killed by our product, we'll pipe it into your kitchen sink. "Culcitate's great market advantage that it is tasteless, colorless, and does not precipitate, has the potential to mask and intensify these potentially lethal exposures." Now, I love this. Not only is this a great product, it is a superb cancer delivery system. "Chemical modifications of Culcitate product, or the addition of a detector molecule such as an odorant or a colorant, would require a top-down redesign of the Culcitate-manufacturing process. These costs, while assumed to be significant, were not summarized here." Which, loosely translated, means "it's going to cost a fortune to go back on this, and I'm just an asshole in a lab, so could someone else PLEASE make the decision?" "CLEARLY, the release of these internal research documents would compromise the effective marketing of Culcitate, and MUST be kept within the protective confines of United Northfield's trade secret language." You don't need me... to tell you what that means. Goodbye!
Share this
Karen Crowder: You don't want the money?
Share this
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.
Share this
Faq
Q
What crime did Karen implicate herself in?
A
By accepting Clayton's bribe she admitted to 1) The murder of Arthur Edens, 2) The attempted murder of Michael Clayton, and 3) Prior knowledge to the fact that the company had willfully and purposefully disobeyed the law. The bribery could not be touched by entrapment standards either because of the fact that the crimes had already been committed and just used the bribe to push out a confession.
Q
What's the point of the restaurant? What happened?
A
A few years ago Michael Clayton invested in a restaurant with his brother. As he explains this was meant to be a safety net, a separate source of income so that if he ever had to leave the firm he could. He sunk most of his money into the restaurant and borrowed from some shady characters. At the start of the story the restaurant has failed and his brotherwho seems to have embezzled money has fled. Michael is left to settle the debt. The restaurant serves to heighten the tension for Michael and to explain why he can't simply walk away from a firm which he's obviously increasingly unhappy with.
Q
Is the plot of Michael Clayton based on any pre-existing publication such as book or other medium?
A
No, it is an original story. The chemical company depicted in the film is said to represent the Monsanto Company.
Share this
Photos from cast
George Clooney Amy Hargreaves
shoes clipart black and white shoe black and white clipart sunglasses clipart transparent background sunglasses clip art free