#1. Michael Clayton

The title figure, wonderfully played by George Clooney, is the chief fixer for a white shoe law firm — the go-to guy when its powerful clients' divorces or tax returns get messy. This time he's dealing with the meltdown of the firm's chief litigator, determined to cross over from the dark side (a vast American corporation, one of whose products is killing its users) to the light (class action plaintiffs). It's a morally alert, persuasively realistic and increasingly suspenseful melodrama, impeccably acted and handsomely staged by Tony Gilroy.