MovieChat Forums > Michael Clayton (2007) Discussion > What did Marty Bach know?

What did Marty Bach know?


So what did Marty Bach know about UNorth's dealings with Arthur?

Did he ask how they knew Arthur was calling Anna?

Did he have any knowledge about what happened to Michael (well, his car, anyway)?

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

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[deleted]

Yes Marty knew what happened to Michael because when he hung up the phone after hearing the news, he gave a sigh of relief!! But Im not sure on your other questions.

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marty bach knows everything, he's marty bach!



We have a pool and a pond...pond be good for you.

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That wasn't a sigh of relief. It was a WTF is going on here? moment.

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oh ok..I guess I looked at it differently then...I always thought Marty knew...makes me want to rewatch it.

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I've watched this film many, many times and I've wondered how much Marty knew about what U-North was up to. Let's not forget what Arthur did in Milwaukee was seriously screwed up. He had to some serious damage control but it was Karen who took everything to extreme. She let Marty know about the document after the fact. She's the one who told him Arthur was calling the girl. Marty just took it secondhand and told Michael.

Marty wanted to protect the firm (and the merger) but not to the point he's conspire in killing his 2 best lawyers. Michael warned him something sinister was going on and we see him finally realize it when he hangs up the phone.

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But remember when Michael was looking for Arthurs briefcase, and when he went to Martys to ask him for the loan he saw Marty going through the briefcase, and asked him how he got it? He seemed very suspicious about that.

(As a side note, I wish there were smarter movies like this made these days.)

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So what did Marty Bach know about UNorth's dealings with Arthur?

Did he ask how they knew Arthur was calling Anna?

Did he have any knowledge about what happened to Michael (well, his car, anyway)?
Marty wanted to protect the firm (and the merger) but not to the point he's conspire in killing his 2 best lawyers.
Marty was the head partner and Arthur had been his lead counsel in the case for the best part of 15 years. He didn't have any idea what Crowder had planned for Arthur, but after it occurs, he agrees with his 2IC, that it was a lucky break in a way, because he'd felt Arthur's stance was going to get the firm into trouble.

He was the only other person who knew Arthur had invited Anna to come to New York and subsequently tells Michael, who then suspects Arthur was murdered, knowing Arthur wouldn't let Anna rock up to New York without picking her up.

He didn't have any knowledge of the car bomb and in the immediate aftermath, like most others thinks Michael is dead.

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I disagree with some others here. I don't think Marty knew. I don't think anyone knew other than Karen and the hitmen. The film gives no indication that anyone else was involved. It doesn't show Karen informing others that these plans have been made. At the end only Karen and the CEO are being arrested. Likely the CEO knew of Karen having clandestine dealings with the hitmen, but didn't know the hitmen were anything more than very sophisticated private detectives. I don't think he knew of the murder plans. Karen likely had permission from the CEO to hire outsiders to solve their problems with the law firm, but I think Karen took the initiative to take the solutions to the act of murder.

As for Marty, I think he knew U North was conducting surveillance of Arthur, and perhaps other clandestine operations related to the law firm. I don't think he knew U North was responsible for the killings. If Marty was on the inside of these plans, the detailed actions of the hitmen would not have been necessary. They would have acted in a more straight forward way, and murdered their subjects by traditional methods. The police would have treated it as just another murder, by unknown assailants. The detailed killing of Arthur, and the illusion that it was suicide, is to derail the law firm from thinking otherwise. Michael's car could have been blown up in the city, rather than waiting until he was in an isolated rural location.

If Marty had been involved, the conclusion would have included a scene where he is also being arrested.

Any thoughts other than what the film shows are viewer speculation.

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Agreed, eelb.

Karen took the initiative to get rid of Arthur and Michael and there is nothing to indicate she involved anyone else besides the actual assassins. Note her attempt to cope with what she put into motion when she's sweating in the bathroom stall. She shares this burden with no one.

While Don Jeffries (Ken Howard) was not in on the 2 hits, didn't Karen tell the assassins when she first contacts them that Don gave her this number? I took that to suggest that while Jeffries was not directly culpable in the death of Arthur and the attempt on Michael's life, this was not the first time U North, at the direction of Jeffries, needed people to disappear.

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He thought that Barry Grissom, was an asshole, and that Barry Grissom KNEW he was a asshole

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