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Did Marty Bach know about the assassinations?


I've seen Michael Clayton three times, if not four. I just finished it an hour ago, and this question still sticks in my head: was Marty (played by Sydney Pollack) in on Arthur's assassination or the attempt on Michael?

There's one major reason I suspect him: the brief scene in which Karen shows Marty the memorandum that Arthur was keeping. So Marty knows about the scientific study that U/North buried. He doesn't tell Michael that he knows. Moreover, Marty knows that Arthur is dangerous and unstable. Really, Arthur's death was in his best interests. He even admits as much to Michael after Arthur's supposed suicide.

After Michael's apparent death, Marty hangs up the phone and lets out an inscrutable sigh. Was that shock? Relief? Despair? Compounding my confusion, there is no scene in which Marty realizes Michael is alive. Whether or not Michael is still with Kenner, Bach, and Ledeen at the end is also left unsaid.

What do you think? Is this theory just the product of an overactive, overanalytical imagination? Or is there a chance he was aware of either attempt beforehand? To be honest, I don't think he knew, especially when it comes to the attack on Michael. Their friendship seems too real, and he doesn't come across as particularly nefarious. Still, it's suspicious.

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I don't think he knew. If you're U North, you definitely would NOT want your legal team knowing that you're willing to commit murder to cover up some stuff related to your case.

Marty Bach certainly knew what kind of a company U North was--far from being the good guys. But he wasn't a co-conspirator for any of the movie's events. They seemed to imply that Karen was going rogue by taking matters into her own hands.

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But Marty knew U-North was tapping Arthur's phone. And Karen brought Marty Arthur's briefcase.

I've seen this movie 10 or more times, but it's just after the last couple of viewings that I've begun to believe Marty knows what's going on. Who was on the phone with Marty at the end? Wouldn't a firm partner or associate inform him in person about Michael's "death"? Or was it Karen?

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"Fifteen years in I gotta tell you how we pay the rent?"

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Always bothered me too, was Marty in on this? Karen Crowder does shows Marty, Memorandum #229, so, cat's OUTTA the bag. Also, when Marty pays Michael the $80K, Michael is HOLDING the memorandum in his HAND, red cover & ALL....and Marty DOESN'T notice it??

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I don't think Marty was in on anything, but did know Arthur had the memo after Karen showed it to him after she had found it with his things. He didn't know Michael had the memo and I doubt he would've noticed Michael holding it during that scene in the office. As much as he loved Arthur, he and Michael both agreed they caught a lucky break with his death.

Now things probably happen pretty quickly at the end and we only see Marty being in shock after getting the call about Michael's carbombing. Maybe he began suspecting something was up after two of his top guys connected to the uNorth case turn up dead? Maybe it was Michael he just got off the phone with in his office, who told him everything (probably a bit of a stretch). I would think, at some point, Marty would either connect things or, as he did with Arthur, consider himself catching a lucky break and getting uNorth off his back and moving ahead with the merger.

Either way, a carbombing is pretty suspicious and high level. Even with Michael's gambling problems and money owed, he probably wouldn't be killed with that way.

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I don't think anyone was involved in the killing and attempted killing other than Crowder and the hit men. I believe the CEO, Jeffries, sees the firm that employees the hitmen as nothing more than a very high end private investigation business, that U North retains to dig up dirt on people that are a threat to U North. But the firm is much more than that, in that they'll kill people if their client gives the go ahead. Notice how Crowder gives a very assertive "no" to the hitmen, when they ask her if Jeffries needs to be involved as to their plans.

Crowder's very insecure as far as her career goes, and will go above and beyond to keep her position.

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I think you raise a pretty good point. It certainly is possible.

I found it quite odd he didn't give the memorandum to Marty as soon as he walked into the office after picking it up from the copy store. And Marty doesnt ask what he's holding either. The camera also does seem to linger on Michael Clayton a few little too long as he looks down holding the check in his hand.

Maybe Marty went to so far as to assist/suggest the wire taps on Arthur? His death certainly was convenient for the firm. "They're doing it! They're going to withold 9 million dollars and fees... they'll have to sell off the furniture!"

He certainly had motive.

Just another layer to this impeccable tale.

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Those questions bothered me from the first time I saw this wonderful film (and I'm watching it again right now, for the Nth time), but no -- I don't think Marty was in on anything. Not the bugging, not Arthur's murder, not the car bombing, none of it.

His last scene with Michael in his office is one of the best in the film -- and funniest, for such a serious subject, as when he refers to "the videotape of Arthur's flash dance in Milwaukee" and "by that time we'll be selling off the god damn furniture..." I think Sydney Polllack was one of the best acting directors ever.

----
Adversity does not build character. It reveals it.

Caedite eos! Novit enim Dominus qui sunt

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Marty complains that Arthur is calling Anna, the farm girl. How did he know that if Karen was telling him?

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There isn't anything in the movie to suggest that Marty is particularly ethical. He clearly knew that Arthur's phone was being tapped because he complained to Michael that Arthur was calling Anna, the farm girl. How would Marty know that if not from Karen?

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Karen would reveal to Marty certain things pertaining to Arthur, just to let Marty know they were building a case against Arthur, for a potential legal malpractice case against Marty's firm. The entire murder scenario is strictly between Karen and the hitmen. She makes it very clear to the lead hitman, that she doesn't want Jeffries to know. If she can't trust her CEO to know, it's reasonable that she would not want anyone else to know.

Arthur's behavior has already put Marty and his law firm in a bind, and killing him won't solve anything for Marty. It will however solve a problem for Karen. Karen's motives are different than Marty's.

It comes down to Karen personally authorizing two murders, and minimizing the chances of getting caught. The more people she involves in this, the less chance she has of getting away with it.

Once Arthur goes crazy at the disposition in Milwaukee, U North and Marty's law firm become opponents. They don't cooperate on anything, other than trying to reach a settlement of the case. Marty is very clear to Michael, that if they don't settle the case, U North is going to take the whole law firm down. There's no reason Karen and Marty would collaborate in the murders.

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I don't think he knew, but he did know who he was dealing with, U-North. Major player, big money, and a car bomb, who else would do that to keep 229 quiet

He suspected U-North


You don't have to stand tall, but you do have to stand up!

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agree with foster11. using the poker analogy, Marty is in deep in terms of billable hours and now he's realizing that U-North (most likely) will stop at nothing including murder and car bombs. but the firm needs a payout on this massive case...

i think the director wanted to show Marty and Michael were friends but that they were both involved in some serous high stakes business and so the director gives us a taste that Marty may not be above suspicion. adds a nice edge to the movie, which, by the way, has so much going on on so many levels, that it bears up to repeated viewings.

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It's possible but not probable.

Michael Clayton was the guy who did that stuff for the firm, not Marty. In fact I think Marty might have even suspected Michael was in on Arthur's murder but this is confounded by the bugged conversations he had, which I think were fed from Karen to Marty merely as leverage.

I think asking for $80,000 raised a lot of questions about Michael's motivations -- was this extortion when the firm was vulnerable? Michael back to gambling? They came at him hard with the contract and the added supervision as I think they were worried that he did way too much stuff off the reservation and even the shadow of an idea that Marty may have had Arthur killed worried a lot of people at Kenner Bach. He knows too much and nobody wants to think that a lone wolf could gun for them anytime they stepped off the reservation.

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True. I think the contract was also driven by the planned merger. They needed it to survive and wanted everything locked up tight.

But I wonder -- did they really need a contract to prevent MC from talking? As an attorney working for a law firm, I would assume that whatever he knew was privileged information to begin with.

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It may have just been a way of pacifying the other partner that Clayton argued with. Marty was too worried about the merger, unorth, etc to lose Clayton and fight with a partner.

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I just watched this fine film. Wish I had sooner. I thought Sydney Pollack just nailed his brief scenes as an uber-powerful head of a giant law firm with its future hanging in the balance. I see him as a person with flexible morals, which are finding new boundaries. However, I do not think he was IN on the assassinations. I suspect it crossed his mind that UNorth had Marty killed, but his death by suicide was very plausible. And he did not want to know the specifics. And it was a fabulously convenient solution, though even Marty seemed to express some guilt that he was so relieved.

As for Michael's attempt. I definitely don't think Marty was behind it or would have supported that if he knew. For a variety of reasons, including his long-established utility and loyalty to the firm. And coming up with 80k, to the firm, that's not that much money, a bonus for a partner. As Michael stated, it was not a shakedown coming from the source and for the amount.

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The private detectives/killers were Karen’s people. She’s a lawyer and they’re assassins, everybody knows not to talk about what they’re doing. Hell, Karen is so elliptical in her conversation in person with the private detectives the movie actually makes a scene out of him making her clarify what she’s even saying.

She refused to even get Don Jeffries involved and these are Don’s people and they know him. There is zero chance that Karen was willing to extend this conspiracy to Marty Bach. It makes Karen more vulnerable and she loses all the leverage she has over Kenner Bach.

Karen’s motivation is to settle the lawsuit first. With the tax benefit it costs them nothing and she looks like a genius. With Kenner Bach jammed up over Arthur’s behavior, she can get Marty to take a 50% haircut on his fees. That’s millions of dollars and after the settlement she probably gets a kickback from U North on the fee discount as a bonus, like what, $1 million for herself?

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