The Lobbyist directed by Paul Thomas Anderson [Focus Features]

Act I

Michelle Pfieffer plays a lobbyist who is hired by a tobacco company, Hennessy Tobacco, to fly to Washington DC to bribe certain members of Congress to motion a bill that would lower the age of purchase to 15. While she is sent there with 15 sealed briefcases that she is forbidden to open, she has a change of heart and starts to feel that what she is doing is wrong, and tries to back out. The corporation tells her if she doesn’t follow through then something horrible will happen to her and her husband, and insomnia begins to set in. Meanwhile her husband, played by Chris Evans, is filing a lawsuit against a company that fired him for unreasonable search and seizure, and Hennessy catches wind of this. Michelle meets three of the congress members she is supposed to meet - at a dive bar in DC - where she reluctantly handles the negotiation, tells them the money is there for the taking with a wink and a smile, and puts herself in a situation where she has to bribe the mindless bartender behind the bar, played by Zack Efron, to keep his mouth shut. Eventually Michelle develops Psoriasis of the Mind due to lack of sleep - which means her body starts to change, and she begins to hallucinate shadows coming to life during the day, and colors changing at night. Chris is forced to drop the lawsuit and find a new job at an attorney’s office that handles corporate malfeasance, and Michelle considers stealing one of the briefcases and fleeing to New Mexico. The bartender quits his job and makes the decision to extort more money out of Michelle. Michelle tells Chris to talk to one of the attorneys he works for just to see if she can get out of working for Hennessy, and Hennessy assumes she’s going to sue. Michelle rents a vehicle on the company credit card, throws a briefcase into the backseat, and sets out for Canada...and Zac Efron decides to follow her.