History Film / MichaelClayton

* ChekhovSGun: When Michael brings his son Henry to school, the kid keeps talking about a fantasy novel with a red cover called ''Realm and Conquest''. Later, when Michael goes to retrieve Arthur after his psychotic episode, Henry calls the hotel his dad is staying in over the night and Arthur answers the call. Guess where Arthur will hide an hint to recover a decisive piece of evidence against U-North.

* U-North and Don Jefferies and their internal memo: 229 [[spoiler: That admits that their weed killer is carcinogenic prior to it going being to market. Bonus points to Don Jeffries for signing off on it as well.]]

A 2007 legal thriller starring Creator/GeorgeClooney, Creator/TomWilkinson, Creator/TildaSwinton, and Creator/SydneyPollack. It is the directorial debut of screenwriter Tony Gilroy, best known for the Film/TheBourneSeries.

** One of the top partners of the firm revealing that he has a mental condition by undressing and rambling incoherently during a pretrial testimony is bad enough, but the same partner actively searching for evidence that undermines the position of one of the best clients of his law firm in a multibillion-dollar high-profile case and planning to share it with the opposing party? Arthur has committed the most serious breach of the lawyer-client fiduciary relationship that could arguably be conceived [[note]]Lawyers are allowed to resign or ask the Court’s permission to withdraw from a case for reasons of coscience, but they are never entitled to actively subvert their clients' cases under any circumstances [[spoiler:(one of the very few exceptions being if their client tries to physically harm them, as Karen discovers at the end)]][[/note]]. This is something that would undoubtedly ground a serious malpractice case and immediately destroy the reputation of any law firm, sinking its practice in an heartbeat. Marty has good reasons to be in a panic mode.

* CallBack: Arthur uses an UnusualEuphemism- "You think you got the horses for that?" to stand in for guts or something of the like. [[spoiler:Later when Michael is driving on a deserted stretch of road, he notices a small herd grazing on a hill and is reminded of Arthur. Arthur's comment inadvertently saves Michael's life. Ditto for the "blink and you'll miss it" horse grazing on a hill in the book ''Realm and Conquest''.]]

* ObfuscatingInsanity: Arthur.

* TheSpock: Michael Clayton.

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Verne and Iker, the [[spoiler:assassins]] Karen calls in to contain the scandal.
* ToBeLawfulOrGood: Arthur, then Michael.

** To a smaller extent, Karen and Arthur are foils to each other. Both are legal council to U-North, are both buckling under the stress of their jobs. While Arthur's stress and guilt leads to a HeelFaceTurn, Karen's stress leads to her taking dangerously drastic measures to protect her client.

* OmnidisciplinaryLawyer: Subverted. Michael's specialty at the firm is using his contacts and experience from his past as a prosecutor to mitigate occasional problems with the criminal-justice system the firm's corporate clients that the other lawyers would be incapable of handling.

* ConfessInConfidence: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Karen in her final conversation with Michael with reference to the attorney-client privilege. [[HandWave Handwaved]] by the latter[[spoiler: as having tried to kill him Karen has lost any right to prevent him to disclose the information he knows]].

* IronicEcho: "I am Shiva, the god of death!"

** Michael gets one when [[spoiler:his car is blown up.]]

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: U-North.
* {{Deconstruction}}: Karen and the U-North assassins are not the smooth operators you'd normally see, Karen is a nervous wreck who's ordering of assassinations is less cold-blooded ruthlessness than misguided desperation, and the assassins are plain handymen than suited killers.

** Even subtler, Michael and Karen are also foils to each other. Both are facing serious stress in their life and on their job (the law firm Michael works for is merging with another one and he is afraid to be downsized, while it is implied that Karen will be made a scapegoat if the class action will go wrong), are in charge to deal with shady situations and [[spoiler: at the end are facing professional ruin (earlier in the film Marty explicitly stated that Michael’s future in the firm depended upon a successful conclusion of the class action, which is unlikely now that Karen has been arrested for murder)]]. But Michael is the only one to keep his sense of integrity and self-worth intact.

** One of the top partners of the firm revealing that he has a mental condition by undressing and rambling incoherently during a pretrial testimony is bad enough, but the same partner actively searching for evidence that undermines the position of one of the best clients of his law firm in a high-profile case and planning to share it with the opposing party? Arthur has committed the most serious breach of the lawyer-client fiduciary relationship that could arguably be conceived [[note]]Lawyers are allowed to resign or ask the Court’s permission to withdraw from a case for reasons of coscience, but they are never entitled to actively subvert their clients' cases under any circumstances[[/note]]. This is something that would undoubtedly ground a serious malpractice case and immediately destroy the reputation of any law firm, sinking its practice in an heartbeat. Marty has good reasons to be in a panic mode.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: [[spoiler: Karen ordered the hit on Michael, because he saw Arthur’s incriminating memo. But Michael had already been effectively bribed by his own firm to stay quiet, even being forced to sign a Non-Disclosure agreement. The attempted car bombing ends up giving Michael an escape, as his "death" nullifies the NDA, and gives him the opportunity to bring down both the firm and U-North. Michael pretty much lampshades this for Karen in their final conversation.]]

* CaliforniaDoubling: In a minor way within the New York metropolitan area. The film suggests that all the action outside the city takes place in Westchester County. However, the railroad bridge where he stops and admires the horses is the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moodna_Viaduct Moodna Viaduct]] in ''Orange'' County, twice as far away from the city and on the other side of the Hudson River. Some other scenes were also filmed nearby.

** One of the top partners of the firm revealing that he has a mental condition by undressing and rambling incoherently during a pretrial testimony is bad enough, but the same partner actively searching for evidence that undermines the position of one of the best clients of his law firm in a high-profile case and planning to share it with the opposing party? Arthur has committed the most serious breach of the lawyer-client fiduciary relationship that could arguably be conceived. This is something that would undoubtedly ground a serious malpractice case and immediately destroy the reputation of any law firm, sinking its practice in an heartbeat. Marty has good reasons to be in a panic mode.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Marty, when Michael says he's tired of being a fixer and wants to return to litigation.
--> '''Michael:''' I was good at it!
--> '''Marty:''' So are a lot of people. At this, at what you do, you're ''great.'' For Chrissakes, Michael, you've got something everybody wants: you have a niche.

* KarmaHoudini: the hitmen are never captured onscreen.

* ShoutOut: I ''hope'' Clayton's kid's parents didn't actually let him watch ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' before getting him an Eva...

* ProfessionalKiller: The two hitmen that U-North secretly has on retainer. They successfully make Arthur's death look like an accident, and [[spoiler: attempt to kill Michael with a car bomb.]] However, they clearly don't resort to murder first, [[spoiler: and actually make it clear that their first option is trying to get rid of Arthur through non-lethal means, although ultimately Karen requests that they resort to violence.]]

* EngineeredPublicConfession

** Arthur experienced this upon realizing he was defending a horrifically guilty client. Marty' face seems to evoke this when he hears about [[spoiler: Michael's apparent death]].

** Timmy, Michael's younger brother, is another foil: a relapsed addict (alcohol, whereas Michael's vice is gambling) whose life has completely fallen apart. Gene is who Michael wishes he were; Timmy is who he's afraid he might become.