'Michael Clayton'

Ken and FT dig into Tony Gilroy's Michael Clayton (2007), the George Clooney/Tilda Swinton/Tom Wilkinson/Sydney Pollack thriller that took Gilroy nearly a decade to get made. This episode covers the film's long road to production, Gilroy's path from Bourne franchise screenwriter to first-time director, and how Clooney agreed to work for no salary to get the film greenlit.

Beyond the making-of story, we explore the film's roots in the 1970s paranoia-thriller tradition, the real-life legal cases that inspired it, and break down some key scenes that demonstrate what makes Gilroy's screenplay for Michael Clayton one of the finest of this century.

Michael Clayton features George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, Sydney Pollack, Michael O'Keefe and Ken Howard.