Michael Clayton Final

The central conflict in Michael Clayton is between a major New York law firm and one of their attorneys Michael Clayton. The firm and its chief partners are working to close a case with client U-north while simultaneously sealing arrangements for merger with a law firm in London. The firm is portrayed as being cold, calculated and immoral. Michael is a character capable of morality, however his job at the law firm and his poor personal choices bring his morals into question. He describes his job as a “janitor” for the firm, cleaning up messes for wealthy clients. This penchant for unethical behavior is mirrored in Michael’s personal life where he gambles his money at underground poker tables and owes $80,000 dollars on a failing restaurant investment. The following sequence occurs just after Michael has discovered U-North documents detailing the company’s decision to produce weed killer it knew was carcinogenic. His friend and once partner at the firm Arthur sought to expose before his untimely death. Of course we know U-north hired hit men to kill Arthur secretively before he could expose them, but presently Michael only has growing suspicion that his friend’s death wasn’t the result of an accidental suicide as it was declared. The first shot in this sequence shows us Michael walking into his firm with proof his boss was aware of U-North’s cover-up and just as importantly to Michael, his friend was right. The document blocks Michael and takes up half the frame to signify its importance. The part of Michael that values morality believes in the Truth, something even more important than him. Before a quick cut, we hear one of the hit men speaking with Karen Crowder, the U-north lawyer who arranged the killing of Arthur. The hit man tailed Michael and knows he has the proof to expose U-north. The two meet on the street, a series of quick cuts makes the scene feel frantic, jumping back and forth between Crowder and the hit man as she skims the document. The hit