Michael Clayton

Joseph Smith | 22 October 2007

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Michael Clayton
Roadshow
Rated MA15+

Meet Michael Clayton. He is an in-house “fixer” at one of the largest corporate law firms in New York.

George Clooney stars as the film’s title character. At the request of the firm’s co-founder Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack), Clayton, a former prosecutor from a family of cops takes care of Kenner, Bach & Ledeen’s dirtiest work. Using his connections in the world of the legal profession and law enforcement, Clayton cleans up messes, handling everything from hit-and-runs and damaging stories in the press to shoplifting wives and crooked politicians.

Though burned out and discontent in his job, Clayton is inextricably tied to Kenner, Bach & Ledeen; his divorce, gambling habit and a failed restaurant business venture have left him with mounting debt.

Meanwhile, at the agri-chemical company of U/North, the career of in-house counsel chief Karen Crowder (Tilda Swinton) rests on the multi-million dollar settlement of a class action suit that Clayton’s firm is leading to a seemingly successful conclusion.

When Kenner, Bach & Ledeen’s top litigator, the brilliant Arthur Edens (Tom Wilkinson), has an apparent breakdown, physically exposing himself to a client in a hearing, he subsequently goes on to try to sabotage the entire U/North case. At this point, Michael Clayton is quickly sent in to do whatever it takes to clean up this unprecedented disaster.

Besides Edens’ shameful exposure, Edens is actually more interested in exposing the horror of what U/North has committed. They have polluted a town’s water supply, making many people sick, including a young, attractive girl to whom Edens has formed a seemingly inappropriate attachment.

As Clayton is forced to reign in his good friend Edens, Clayton comes face to face with the reality of who he has become. Clayton has become a protector of the guilty, willing to prostitute himself out to the highest bidder, so to speak. Clayton soon discovers that Edens has the high moral ground, choosing to sacrifice his very successful career for the sake of exposing truths, bringing down corrupt corporations and potentially saving lives.

Writer and director Tony Gilroy, whose other work includes writing the screenplays for the first two Bourne films, says his idea for Michael Clayton was inspired by a class action suit brought against General Motors in the 1970s. The car manufacturer had produced a car causing several burn deaths but decided it would be cheaper to pay off the families of the deceased than recall all the cars and repair the problem.

Michael Clayton contains similar themes and plots turns to Erin Brokovich and it’s interesting to note that Steven Soderbergh who directed that film acts as a producer on Michael Clayton.

Unfortunately, a major flaw of Michael Clayton is the highly complex narrative structure. There are just too many interwoven sub-plots to follow. Perhaps this story could have worked better as a television mini-series where sub-plots and supporting characters have more time to be explored and developed. While the film’s many sub-plots are interesting, some are not explored deeply enough to be satisfying and so come across as confusing and irrelevant.

The film’s script has clearly attracted numerous top actors. The dialogue is sharp. The story is confronting. The moral questions it raises are definitely worth asking. But sadly, the film as a whole is too complex and certain aspects of the plot seem tangential or inexplicable.

Clayton’s journey is both an external and an internal one. Externally, he is chasing the truth. He investigates the case, researching the deaths that caused the lawsuit and the death caused by it. It soon leads him to a very disturbing conclusion.

Internally, Clayton experiences a journey of self-discovery, that leads to self-loathing, but then renewal. His journey is like that of the repentant sinner who first sees the error of their rebellion against God, but then by grace can be forgiven and given new life by Christ. As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith”. Until Clayton fully examined who he had become, he could not begin the process of change.

As Clayton sees the lengths that others are willing to go to cover up the truth, including murder, Clayton sees his own mercenary lifestyle is no better and has only served the causes of those who he now detests.

This leads Clayton to make a bold moral choice. It might cost him a lot of money, of which he still has great need. But as the words of Jesus recorded in the gospel according to Matthew say, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?”.