Chona F. Casido / BSCS / Social Issues & Pro.

Practices

Reflection Paper of the Movie “Michael Clayton (2007)”

Michael Clayton (George Clooney) is a "fixer" for one of New York City's largest
and most powerful law firms. His boss, Marty Bach (Sydney Pollack), sees him
as an invaluable asset to the company who can always be relied upon to take
care of the loose ends that are part and parcel of running such a large and
successful firm. Michael has a much less vaulted view of himself: he is not a
"miracle worker" but a "janitor" one who cleans up the messes. In spite of his 15-
year tenure, he has not been promoted to partner and there is little reason to
think that he ever will be. Worst of all, Michael, who has a serious gambling
addiction, started a bar which his alcoholic brother ran into the ground, leaving
him with a $75,000 debt to some unsavory characters. Michael sees that his life
is a shambles and his "walk-away" money gone. No wonder he is nervous about
the future and upset about the past.

Marty Bach is working around the clock on a merger and assigns Michael to
handle the meltdown in Milwaukee of Arthur Evans (Tom Wilkinson), one of the
firm's top litigators. He's stripped himself naked in a courtroom but that's not the
real problem. The problem is that he has become convinced that U/North, the
multinational conglomerate he represents in a multimillion dollar class-action
lawsuit, is guilty of ethical malfeasance on a grand scale. Karen Crowder (Tilda
Swinton), the agribusiness's chief counsel has hired some men to monitor Evans'
activities, and they begin to also note Michael's visits to him. After his friend is
killed, Michael picks up the trail of details leading back to U/North's egregious
wrongdoing with some toxic chemicals foisted on farmers and the general public.

Writer and director Tony Gilroy has made a crackling good thriller that is relevant
to the times when more and more corporations are willing to jeopardize public
safety and welfare in the name of profit. Such companies expect to be able to
use their power and wealth to cover-up wrongdoing; their worst fear is the
emergence of a whistleblower like Arthur Evans.
George Clooney gives a top-drawer performance as Michael Clayton, a former
prosecutor from a working-class neighborhood. In a poignant scene which sums
up this character's anger at who has become, he listens to the plight of a rich hit-
and-run driver who berates him for not coming up with a painless and carefree
handling of his situation. As a single parent, Michael loves his young son but
feels disconnected from him thanks to a career that demands all of his time and
effort. His involvement with Arthur arouses Michael's conscience and for the first
time in years, he sees things with a moral clarity and knows what he must do.

The other standout performance is by Tilda Swinton as Karen Crowder, U/North's

in-house chief counsel. She has worked her way up the corporate ladder and is
awaiting a successful outcome in the class action suit. When she finds out that
Arthur has turned against her and the company, she realizes that something has
to be done about him since three billion dollars are at stake. Ambition is a terrible
force when enslaved to money and power. Her own meltdown in the face of fear
is something to behold. This thriller hits the emotions like a hurricane and reveals
what it is like to face life-shattering moments.