GITS Script Reading and Analysis Series: “Michael Clayton”

Go Into The Story Script Reading and Analysis Series: “Michael Clayton”

This week we will be analyzing the screenplay for Michael Clayton [written and directed by Tony Gilroy]. The 2007 movie received 7 Academy Award nominations including Best Writing, Original Screenplay, as well as a nomination for the WGA Award for Best Original Screenplay.

You may download a copy of the shooting script here.

A trailer for the movie:

Some reviews of the film:

New York Times [Manohla Dargis]

Variety [Brian Lowry]

The BoxOfficeMojo site for the film’s performance in theaters [grossed $92M worldwide].

An interview with Tony Gilroy in Filmmaker:

Filmmaker: This is a real change of pace and seems like a very conscious attempt to step away from the Bourne style of filmmaking.

Gilroy: This was the temperature that this movie wanted to be at. If I was doing something else, I’d want to reserve the right to be as kinetic as I possibly could be. I’ve written a lot of thrillers and a lot of uncredited stuff, and this was a real opportunity, not as an intellectual exercise but just as an instinctive thing, to write the moments that normally get left out. The traditionally Hollywood storytelling technique, even in a great film, is that the villain is presented fully formed, and at the end has a series of scenes or speeches that really underline a cogent villain’s worldview. But I’m much more concerned in this movie with the creation of the villain, and the moment when people decide to do what they do. There’s a whole bunch of moments and ideas that had got thrown off the truck over the years in these other films that were really interesting to me to find a place where they worked. And they worked on this film.

Let’s use this post today for your general reactions to the script.

Did you enjoy it? Why? Why not?

What are the script’s strengths? Are there areas you felt were strengthened in the movie version?

What struck you most about the writing?

What takeaway can we glean from the script as an example of the drama genre?

Our analysis schedule for this week:

Monday: General Comments

Tuesday: Structure

Wednesday: Characters

Thursday: Themes

Friday: Dialogue

See you in comments!

NOTE: This series is for educational purposes only!

For previous analyses of scripts in this series, go here.

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