I'm really into this kind of modern society-story and this means a lot of foggy structure that is made out of laywers, corruption, manupulation an so on. So give me some names and of course small, unknown productions a very welcome.
THX Lundegaard
Amen to both Network and Dog Day Afternoon.
shareOther commentators have pointed out the movies that I would have mentioned. But there's also "The Devil's Advocate." It was written by Tony Gilroy, who wrote and directed "Michael Clayton," and apparently he developed the ideas behind "Clayton" while writing "Advocate." The big difference was that he didn't want to have any courtroom scenes in "Clayton." (Come to think of it, there aren't many courtroom scenes in "Advocate," either.)
Of course, "The Devil's Advocate" also has supernatural demons and Al Pacino playing Satan, so it's pretty different. But it's still kind of a legal thriller, with a corrupt but decent attorney at the core.
Also, John Grisham kind of took over this genre in the 90's, so most legal thrillers these days have some connection to it--I'd recommend "The Firm" or "The Rainmaker." I never saw "The Chamber" or "Runaway Jury."
An interesting comparison with "Michael Clayton" is another movie set in the American urban Northeast that came out exactly two weeks after MC: "Gone Baby Gone."
Both have plots turning on corruption in high places; both have a substantial flavor of working-class urban life (though of course the emphasis in MC was the corporate world). Both concern a protagonist trying to find the truth and facing personal danger to do so.
A major difference: "Michael Clayton" is a melodrama, with all the virtues and drawbacks of that genre--there is never any real doubt that the protagonist will Do The Right Thing. I'm not a fan of that aspect of melodrama, but there's undeniable power in the rush of moral outrage that viewers get to experience. Melodrama nearly always outperforms 'straight drama' at the box office.
By contrast, "Gone Baby Gone" centers on a protagonist whose choices are genuinely agonizing, and genuinely a mystery until the end. The drawback of that kind of story is that viewers don't walk out in the warm glow of righteous satisfaction that melodrama provides. (And indeed, though both movies received roughly equivalent levels of critical acclaim, the box office spoke for melodrama: gross revenue for "Michael Clayton" is, to date, roughly three times that of "Gone Baby Gone.")
bump
shareFor a relatively unknown smaller budget movie, I thought Demonlover was very good, and was visually and morally similar to MC.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284034/
Cant believe nobody mentioned either of these yet
All the President's Men
Pride And Glory
Glengarry Glen Ross
Copland
I wish there wasn't but sadly there are plenty
shareThe International (2009)
shareThree Days of the Condor - I think Syndey Pollack directed that as well.
Limit of the Willing Suspension of Disbelief: directly proportional to it's awesomeness.
Puncture, an independent legal drama with Chris Evans.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puncture_(film)
to me, the film felt like a dramatic rip off of 'erin brockovich'.
shareThe Departed (2006)
Not laywers. Cops.
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Lincoln Lee: I lost a partner.
Peter Bishop: I lost a universe!
[deleted]
Network
The Constant Gardener
Syriana
The Conversation