Michael Clayton

Michael Clayton is the titular protagonist of the 2007 legal thriller film of the same name. As a "fixer" for a prestigious New York City law firm attempts to cope with a colleague's apparent mental breakdown and the corruption and intrigue surrounding a major client of his law firm being sued in a class action case over the effects of toxic agrochemicals.

Story
Michael is $75,000 in debt from a restaurant investment he entered with his brother Timmy, which collapsed when Timmy used the restaurant's funds to fuel his drug habits. Having gone to a loan shark to raise the money, he refuses to give up on his brother and is held responsible for the debt and given one week to come up with the money. Later, Michael arrives in Milwaukee and bails Arthur out of jail after finding out he is no longer taking his medication, but Arthur escapes from their hotel room in the middle of the night.

Upon learning of Arthur's death, Michael is devastated and becomes suspicious when he discovers that U-North was planning a settlement just a few days before, and that Arthur had booked a flight to New York for one of the plaintiffs named Anna. She tells him that no one knew of her conversations with Arthur, not even her attorney, yet Michael's firm somehow knew of Arthur's conversations with the U-North plaintiffs. With the help of his other brother Gene, a police detective, Michael gets access to Arthur's sealed apartment and, finding a bottle of champagne and two glasses in the refrigerator, suspects Arthur arranged to meet Anna. There is also a copy of Realm and Conquest, a fantasy novel which Michael's son Henry had recommended to both Michael and Arthur, with several pages evidently highlighted and annotated by Arthur, among which is a receipt from a photocopy shop being used as a bookmark.

Michael is caught in the apartment and arrested for trespassing, but Gene bails him out. Using the receipt, Michael discovers that Arthur had ordered 3,000 copies of the confidential U-North document. Michael takes one copy of the document with him. The hit men, who are now following him, also obtain a copy, which they provide to Karen. Michael is about to show his boss, Marty Bach, the document in his possession. Before he can do so, he is offered a renewed employment contract as well as the $80,000 he had requested to cover his debt. As a condition, Marty's associate, Barry Grissom, operating on the assumption that Michael may be shaking down the firm based upon what he has found out about U-North's activities, imposes a confidentiality agreement on Michael to prevent him from divulging any information that might damage U-North's case. This reveals to Michael that Marty and Barry already know about U-North's cover-up.

One of the hit men rigs Michael's car with a bomb, but is forced to leave the job unfinished when Michael suddenly abandons his high-stakes poker game after receiving a phone call summoning him to meet the hit-and-run client. He is followed by the hit men, who have trouble tracking him, but eventually get close enough to detonate the radio-controlled bomb. However, Michael had already left the car to approach the horses. When the bomb explodes, Michael runs to the burning car, throws some of his personal effects into it, and escapes into the woods.

Later, at a U-North board meeting at the New York Hilton Midtown hotel, Karen proposes that the board approve a new settlement in the class action lawsuit against the company. She leaves the room to let the board of directors deliberate. She is shocked when Michael confronts her in the foyer, since she believed him to be dead. He informs her that he has possession of the U-North memo, and knows about her role in Arthur's murder and the subsequent attempt on his own life. He goads Karen into offering him $10 million for his silence. Karen reluctantly agrees, whereupon Michael reveals that he is wearing a wire. As the police approach to arrest Karen, Michael leaves. Getting into a cab he tells the driver "Give me $50 worth. Just drive".