YMMV / Michael Clayton

• Award Snub:
  • If only Daniel Day-Lewis hadn't given such a magnificent performance in There Will Be Blood. This movie might very well have garnered George Clooney his second Oscar in as many years.
  • As well as Tom Wilkinson's supporting work, which might have gotten him the gold if Javier Bardem hadn't done No Country for Old Men.
• Awesome Moments:
  • Michael scares Karen shitless (she thinks he's dead and oh hey here he is!) and gets her to agree to wire ten million dollars to his offshore account. And then, hey, it's the cops and you're all under arrest. Badass.
  • Not to mention that background shot of Karen collapsing to the floor as everything comes crashing down on her.
• Magnificent Bastard:
  • Michael Clayton himself is a devious and ruthless "fixer" for the law firm Kenner, Bach and Ledeen, who has used his connections and problem solving to handle the dirtier aspects of the business for years. Dispatched by his firm to reign in fellow attorney Arthur Edens, Michael learns about U-North's corruption from Arthur and, when Arthur is assassinated by U-North, Michael begins working to expose the company. He follows clues left behind by Arthur to piece together U-North's dispersal of a lethal carcinogenic chemical, and threatens to expose it. Needing cash to pay off a debt for his brother, Michael extorts hush money from KBL and stays silent until U-North executive Karen Crowder orders him assassinated. Evading the attempted murder, Michael fakes his death long enough to ambush Karen, trick her into confessing her crimes, and reveal he was wearing a wire the whole time that he uses to expose U-North to the police once and for all.
  • Mr. Verne and Mr. Iker are a pair of Consummate Professional mercenaries hired by U-North to clean up evidence of its crimes. They stake out the home of the conspiracy theorist Arthur Edens, take note of his medications and bug his phone to spy on him and learn that he has proof of U-North's illegal activities. On Karen Crowder's orders Verne and Iker quickly and efficiently assassinate Arthur to silence his probing, framing it as a suicide by medication overdose. Verne and Iker then set their sights on Michael Clayton, stalking and learning more information from him before calling the cops on Michael to disrupt his investigations. Verne and Iker nearly kill Michael as well, his life saved only by sheer coincidence as the hitmen exit the film with no visible consequences.
• One-Scene Wonder: Julie White as Mrs. Greer, the wife of the hit-and-run driver Michael speaks to at the beginning of the movie. Without a single line of dialogue, she holds her own against two veteran actors, with her body language and facial expressions perfectly conveying her fear and anger at the situation.
• Retroactive Recognition: Katherine Waterston makes her film debut, playing one of the lawyers working for Karen Crowder.
• Spiritual Licensee: This movie has been called "The best John Grisham movie ever made". To note, it was produced by Sydney Pollack, who previously directed the adaptation of Grisham's The Firm.

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