Review of wall street, 1987 movie starring michael douglas as gordon gekko and charlie sheen as bud fox, directed by oliver stone and written by stanley weiser, how film is an argument against greed but glorifies it, also starring john c. Stanley tucci is one of the employees who get fired from an investment bank, because times are tough. The director of margin call reveals the event that. A respected financial company is downsizing and one of the victims is the risk management division head, who was working on a major analysis just when he. The ensemble cast features kevin spacey, paul bettany, jeremy irons, zachary quinto, penn badgley, simon baker, demi moore, and. How margin call gets it right about the financial crisis the new. Essay margin call 992 words 4 pages margin call is an american movie, realizd by jc chandor in 2011 the story this movie explains how crisis. Chandors film, which is the most insightful wall street movie ever produced.
Margin call cast and crew cast photos and info fandango. Sadly, margin call is an unfortunate lesson in what happens when you make a movie that, like the social network, features dozens of characters talking intensely at each other for 2 hours, only. One of the victims is eric stanley tucci, a senior risks analyst who like many of his colleagues was incapable of seeing that the real estate market was built as a house of cards. Margin call depicts the last night of good times on wall street, as a deadly certainty travels up the. Together with the films cast, the writer and director j. Also sign me up for fanmail to get updates on all things movies. One of the most conspicuous elements of margin call, a film by j. Margin call is one of the strongest american films of the year and easily the best wall street movie ever made. Chandor about an unnamed investment bank at the end of its tether, is how quiet it is. But in margin call, his character is faced with a moral choice, which makes him one of the storys few sympathetic characters.
The film lets him off the hook with his ignorance of how the. There is no character in the film who breaks the law, engages in conspiracy, or does anything a reasonable person would label as. The reality is that if anybody in the market holds a massiv. The principal story takes place over a 24hour period at a large wall street investment bank during the initial stages of the financial crisis of 200708. This tense wall street thriller follows the staff of a highpowered brokerage firm in the 24 hours before the stock market crash of 2008. Upon his departure he hands over some research results he has been working on to one of the younger coworkers, who alarms his boss, paul bettany. All the main characters had a choice of doing the right thing. However, that doesnt suggest that these characters are without remorse.
If you really want to do this with your life you have to believe that youre necessary. Finance is depicted as slippery and amorphous, a creation of not. Chandler does a good job with the characters of this movie he isnt necessarily looking for a villain in a mess like this nor any lengthy explanations. Margin call tells a g ripping story and features a cast of wellknown film s tars, which should motivate students to engage with the film s topics, especia lly because the story is mainly told. Chandlers 2011 film margin call examines the actions of an investment firms key decision makers during the earliest stages of the most recent financial crisis. Chandor, the 37yearold director of the new financial crisis film called margin call, was first inspired to make the movie because of an event.
Follows the key people at an investment bank, over a 24hour period, during the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. Margin call is a fine crash movie, but no banker it boasts superb performances, but right now the normal public may not want to go and see a film about the us financial crisis jeremy kay. Margin call begs to differ with the big shorts sentiment that everyone involved in the start of the crisis was an irredeemable crook. Margin call interview with demi moore, simon baker, penn. Jake bernstein, in his mash note to margin call, is right to see the moral heart of the movie in a speech by paul bettanys character, will emerson. Upon his departure he hands over some research results he has been working on to one of the younger. The latest in a string of dramas seeking to take the pulse of whitecollar america, margin call is a methodical, coolly absorbing boardroom thriller set on the eve of the 2008 economic collapse. Featuring an allstar cast, margin call was one of the most talked about films of the sundance film festival and was also the opening night selection of new directorsnew films. Margin call is a 2011 american drama film written and directed by j. A financialcrisis film thats on the money the atlantic. In fact, it stands up to comparison with the 1992 film of david mamets magnificently squalid play glengarry glen ross, which in many ways it.
Ultimately, margin call is the story of a wall street that has evolved from an economic helpmate to an economic predator. Margin call margin call is an independent drama film of a investment bank firm that takes place over a 36 hour period after discovering a huge financial crisis that is about to occur. Unlike most mainstream movies about high finance, margin call is a thoughtful and intelligent attempt to depict contemporary wall. He has a doctorate in engineering with a speciality in propulsion literally a rocket scientist. Instead it seeks to paint its characters as cogs in a machine, simply reacting to the information they are given. What do real bankers think of their portrayal in margin call. But the film, relentless in its honesty and shrewd in its insights and techniques, is unlikely to soothe the wounded pride of the actual or aspiring. Margin call a movie about the financial disaster that. Margin call is a fine crash movie, but no banker film. Chandor, the independently produced film does not tell a true story about what happened.
In focus are the actions taken by a group of employees during the subsequent financial collapse. The fictional head of a wall street firm john tuld a composite character resembling merrill lynchs john thain and lehman brothers dick fuld and played by the wonderfully villainous jeremy. Beyond the sheer entertainment value of the movie, chandors biggest coup is his willingness to indict a system rather than simply blame the individuals within it. I do think the movie is well acted and nicely written, but to me the movie is a slow burn and i just dont think its brilliant as people thought it was.
The film s most sympathetic characters are either unemployed, or unable to escape the corruption of the firm. The movie margin call, which opened this past weekend, advertises that it was inspired by a true story. Paul craig roberts made an intriguing reference the other day. Margin call is about how capitalism leads to greed and fraud. For instance, given that the topic management comprising of demi and tuld knew about the risk the company was facing early in advance, they had the right to explain the matter to the employees as well as the stakeholders. A respected financial company is downsizing and one of the victims is the risk management division head, who was working on a major analysis just when he was let go. How margin call gets it right about the financial crisis. Margin call is a film that deserves at least one viewing.
Margin call script at the internet movie script database. It is also a horror movie, with disaster lurking like an unseen demon outside the skyscraper windows and behind the computer screens. Each character takes part in a story that shows their emotions and actions of how to handle an economic downturn. Margin call is the smartest movie you will ever see about the financial. Margin call is a thriller, moving through ambient shadows to the anxious tempo of nathan larsons hushed, anxious score. Analysis of margin call analysis discuss dramatica. Chandor, 37, wrote in the days after lehman failed, was an effort to understand the human side of a financial crisis, or as he put it, the decisionmaking process. Set in the highstakes world of the financial industry, margin call is a thriller entangling the key players at an investment firm during one perilous 24hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis.
Which in the cases of peter sullivan, eric dale and sam rogers means a great financial profit but at the cost of a very guilty conscience for being unable to stop it. So when i was told that i would get some time with demi moore, simon baker, penn badgley, zachary quinto and paul bettany at sundance to talk about their excellent movie margin call which. Set at a wall street firm on the night in 2008 when the leaders realize that changes in the market will wipe them out if they dont immediately stop selling the products that have been making them all rich, the movie centers on the moral dilemma recognized by some characters but dismissed by others that they face in unwinding their positions, saving themselves but. Mcginley as marv with the great quotes, martin sheen, daryl hannah, terrence stamp, james spader, sean young, james karen, hal holbrook, franklin cover. Briskly paced and marvelously acted, the movie reveals how large financial institutions operate and the motivations of the people who work within them. The fictional head of a wall street firm john tuld a composite character.
In margin call, money insistently pushes its way into personal decisions. Im all out of nicorettes, which means in about ten minutes im going to kill somebody. Thus, i am inclined to go with sam rogers and john tuld as the primary storyline for margin call, with the other story lines as the means via which the world of the story is imbued with interrelated humanising and thematic elements that make the primary story a fit with the audiences general experience, more humanly appealing and expositional. Margin calls allstar cast brings to life writerdirector j. Margin call, by contrast, depicts the many banalities that make for a financial meltdown, and the nearsilent panic that sets in. Im all out of nicorettes, which means in about ten minutes. Each ascending echelon of the banks hierarchy has a weaker understanding of the complex financial. When confronted with sullivans analysis, sam says, oh jesus, you know i cant read.
Margin call is a 2011 film that seeks to give viewers a deeper perspective into the financial crisis that hit the united states in 2008. A margin call is a broker s demand on an investor using margin to deposit additional money or securities so that the margin account is brought up to the minimum maintenance margin. Before i discuss that in more detail, i did want to address the statement around what companies like goldman sachs do when they figure it out. It may not sound like a fun viewing experience, but in actuality, it really is. Margin call is a superb wall street thriller orange.
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