20Michael Clayton (2007)

Tony Gilroy proved that great legal thrillers needn’t take place in the courtroom. The titular character is a “fixer” at the white-shoe defense firm Kenner, Bach & Ledeen—a “janitor” sweeping others’ malfeasance under the rug. Until he isn’t. In 2020, reconsidering Michael Clayton for the website rogerebert.com, Roxana Hadadi concluded: “At a time when human lives are regularly diminished for corporate gains, the ferocious anger of Michael Clayton—the power of one person taking a stand—feels like a miracle.”