Michael Clayton

INT. KENNER BACH & LEDEEN/VARIOUS SHOTS -- NIGHT

It’s 2:
00 a.m. in a major New York law firm. Ten floors

of office space in the heart of the Sixth Avenue Canyon.

Seven hours from now this place will be vibrating with thebeehive energy of six hundred attorneys and their attendantstaff, but for the moment it is a vast, empty, half-litshell. A SERIES OF SHOTS emphasizing the size and power ofthis organization; shots that build quietly to the idea that

somewhere here -- somewhere in this building -- there’ssomething very important going on. MUSIC and CREDITS alreadymixing with the crazed, manic, express train chatter of -

ARTHUR EDENS (V.O.)

...Michael. Dear, Michael. Nurse

Michael. Dr. Clayton. Secret Hero.

Keeper of the Hidden Sins. Of course

it’s you. Who else could they send?

Who else could be trusted? Smoke on

the horizon -- hole in the bucket --

voices crying from Milwaukee to

Manhattan, “Where’s our hero?”

“Where’s our Cleanser Of The Hidden

Sins?” And here you are, sleeves

rolled up, lips sealed -- broom --

dustbin -- bankroll at the ready!

Fifties, is it still fifties? When

you came to Boston, you remember?

God, you must’ve had a thousand of

them! The cash -- the smile -- the

quiet word in the corner -- of course

it’s you, Michael, who else could it

ever be? But Michael, please, before

you sweep, please just hear me out --

just try -- because it’s not like

Boston -- it’s not an episode -

relapse -- f*** up -- I’m begging

you, Michael, make believe it’s not

just madness, because it’s not just

madness --

(continuing, as--)

INT. LAW FIRM OFFICE/DUPLICATION CENTER -- NIGHT

A XEROX MACHINE -- cranking out high-speed copies -- tenpages a second flashing before our eyes -- all informationa blur except for the letterhead which is constant:

KENNER, BACH & LEDEEN LLP

ATTORNEYS AT LAW

As...

ARTHUR EDENS (V.O.)

-- I mean, yes -- okay, yes --elements

of madness -- the speed of madness --

yes, the occasional, euphoric, pseudo-

hallucinatory moments that, yes -- fine

--agreed -- distracting -- nostalgic --

all of that --

(continuing, as--)

A HUGE EMPTY OFFICE BULLPEN. CUBICLES AND WORKSTATIONS.

ARTHUR EDENS (V.O.)

-- but that’s just the package -

the plate -- think of it as a tax --

The Mania Tax -- The Insanity Tax -

or like advertising on TV -- it’s the

freight -- the weight -- it’s the

price of the show --

A LONG, DARK CORRIDOR. A CLEANING CREW IN THE DISTANCE.

ARTHUR EDENS (V.O.)

-- just please, just hear me out,

Michael, because I swear to you, this

is so much, so very much more, than

the ravings of some hypo-maniacal,

bipolar attorney -

DOCUMENT AREA. ODD THIS LATE. THREE ASSOCIATES STACKING

PAPERWORK ONTO A TROLLEY --

ARTHUR EDENS (V.O.)

-- Two weeks ago I came out of the

building -- I’m running across Sixth

Avenue -- there’s a car waiting -- I

have exactly thirty-eight minutes to

get to Laguardia,and I’m dictating --

there’s this frantic associate running

to keep up --

A SENIOR PARTNER’S OFFICE. A SECURITY GUARD SNEAKING A

SMOKE IN THE DARK BY AN OPEN WINDOW.

ARTHUR EDENS (V.O.)

-- we’re in the middle of the street --

the light changes -- the traffic --

unleashed -- it’s coming -- serious

traffic -- but there I am -- I’m

babbling -- my mouth -- I can’t stop --

some ridiculous, involuntary part of my

brain just keeps going -- I’m standing

there dictating this trade secret,

Motion to Suppress...

AN OFFICE PHONE. TWELVE LINES BLINKING IN THE DARK.

ARTHUR EDENS (V.O.)

...and there, Michael, in the middle

of Sixth Avenue -- as I stood there

jabbering -- and this poor young woman

is screaming -- traffic speeding toward

us -- I looked at my hands and my suit

-- my briefcase -- and it came to me --

overwhelming sensation -- the feeling --

the fact -- that I was covered with

came over me -- through me -- the

some sort of film -- an oil -- an ooze

-- my hair -- my face -- like a glaze --

a coating -- and at first I thought,

“My God, I know what this is, this issome sort of amniotic, embryonic fluid

-I’m drenched in afterbirth -- I’ve

breached the chrysalis -- I’ve beenreborn.” --

ASSOCIATE #1 WHEELING THAT DOCUMENT TROLLEY PAST AN EMPTY

BACK OFFICE KITCHEN.

ARTHUR EDENS (V.O.)

-- but the traffic -- this stampede --

cars -- trucks -- the horns -- the

screaming associate -- I’m thinking,

“No -- reset -- this cannot be rebirth.

If anything, this must some giddyillusion of renewal that happens in thefinal instant before death.” -

A MAINTENANCE WORKER VACUUMING A LARGE RECEPTION STAIRCASE.

ARTHUR EDENS (V.O.)

-- and then -- in the fraction of a

moment it took for that idea to form --

I realized all of that was wrong,

because I looked back at the buildingand had the most stunning moment ofclarity...

THE WORD PROCESSING DEPARTMENT. TWENTY PEOPLE -- ACTORS,

DANCERS, ARTISTS, INSOMNIACS -- THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT

HAMMERING OUT OVERNIGHT LEGAL PAPERWORK.

ARTHUR EDENS (V.O.)

...I realized, Michael, at that moment,

that I had emerged -- as I have donenearly every day for the past twenty-

eight years of my life -- not throughdoors of Kenner, Bach & Ledeen -

RECEPTION LOBBY. ASSOCIATE #1 WHEELING THE TROLLEY OFF

THE ELEVATOR.

ARTHUR EDENS (V.O.)

--not through the portals of our hugeand powerful law firm, but rather fromthe a**hole of an organism whose sole

function is to excrete the poison --

the ammo -- the defoliant -- necessaryfor even larger and more dangerousorganisms to destroy the miracle ofhumanity --

ANOTHER EMPTY HALLWAY. A BANQUET TABLE LITTERED WITH THE

PICKED-OVER REMNANTS OF AN ALL-NIGHT CATERED FEED.

ARTHUR EDENS (V.O.)

-- and that I have been coated with

this patina of sh*t for the better part

of my life and that the stink and stainmight in all likelihood take the restof my days to undo --

AND NOW -- WIDER TO FIND -- ASSOCIATE #1 WHEELING THE

TROLLEY TOWARD BIG DOORS AT THE END OF THE HALL --

ARTHUR EDEN’S (V.O.)

-- and do you know what I did next?

I took a deep, cleansing breath.

I set that notion aside. I tabled it.

I said to myself, “As clear as this maybe -- as potent as this may feel -- astrue a thing as I believe I havewitnessed here -- I must wait. It must

stand the test of time.”

AN ATTORNEY HUDDLED OVER HIS MOBILE PHONE, SEEING THE KID

COMING, HELPING HIM BY OPENING THE DOORS, as --

ARTHUR EDENS (V.O.)

And, Michael, the time is now.

INT. LAW FIRM CONFERENCE ROOM -- NIGHT

The big room. Bright. Teeming. FORTY PEOPLE jamming anall-night deadline: ATTORNEYS -- PARTNERS AND ASSOCIATES --

PARALEGALS -- ASSISTANTS -- ACCOUNTANTS -- working groupsbunkered around a huge table covered with paperwork andlaptops and coffee mugs. Several document “villages” piledaround the room. The credits have wrapped. Arthur Edens has

stopped talking. And if there’s music, that’s stopped too.

We’re live.

BARRY GRISSOM coming around the table. He’s maybe fifty.

A killer New York lawyer in his prime. Litigator. Senior

partner. Always wrapped a little tight and this moment isno exception -- slowing now and...

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