Boardroom thriller following the employees of a large New York investment bank over the opening 24 hours of the 2008 financial crisis. All-star cast includes Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, Paul Bettany.
"When entry-level analyst Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm, a roller-coaster ride ensues as decisions both financial and moral catapult the lives of all involved to the brink of disaster... an examination of the human components of a subject too often relegated to partisan issues of black and white. A portrayal of the financial industry and its denizens as they confront the decisions that shape our global future." (Sundance Film Festival 2011)
The title of writer-director JC Chandor’s dizzying debut refers to the moment when all debts must be repaid – the day of reckoning. And boy does he deliver. At an unnamed Wall Street firm (Lehman Brothers!), recently fired risk manager Stanley Tucci gives young buck Zachary Quinto (Spock in Star Trek) a file that will, ultimately, start the 2007 recession. So begins a financial forest fire that, over the course of one long, over-caffeinated night, engulfs the entire company and – as we now know – world.
Part of Chandor’s genius (or extreme good fortune) is that each new level of the corporation is overseen by a brilliant actor who’s correspondingly higher up the Hollywood pecking order than the last. So Quinto reports to Paul Bettany, who reports to Kevin Spacey, who reports to Jeremy Irons, each more compromised – or corrupt – than their inferiors. “You and I can’t control it, or stop it, even slow it,” says Irons urbanely as he sells a million futures down the river with a lupine smile. “We just react. And we make a lot of money if we get it right.”
It’s a brutal world (“Still alive?” the execs keep asking each other), brilliantly evoked by one of the most impressive casts assembled in recent memory (Simon 'The Mentalist' Baker is particularly chilling). But this is Chandor’s triumph, and marks him out as someone to keep an eye on in the future. Let’s hope he’s never handed such an all-pervading human horror story again.
By Matt Glasby, Flicks.co.nz
No sex, no violence, not even a gun in sight even though this movie is set in New York! Instead a convincing portrayal of not just the events but the emotions of the 2008 financial crisis. Well work a trip to the 'flicks'.
Captivating from start to finish, even though probably a little over-dramatisation of the the actual story.
Today 6 of us went to "Margin Call", an absolutely fascinating movie seemingly based on the internal workings of Lehman Brothers the night before global markets crashed in 2008. This is a highly entertaining, riveting drama and we probably should have asked John Key to join us for his comments based on his former life at Merrill Lynch. However, it seemed highly plausible to us and the acting is superb. A slightly annoying start with a cello almost drowning out the dialogue but after that it is a gripping roller-coaster ride with the entire screenplay encompassing a period of about 36 hours. No romantic interest and only one key female actor but a group of 5 women in front of us seemed to enjoy it as much as we did. 4.5 stars
Margin Call is a really REALLY good. I don't know I was expecting when I saw this, but I can honestly say that even after seeing it a few days ago, I am still thinking about it. The acting was superb, there was not a bad performance in the bunch and Kevin Spacey as the finance big wig plagued by a moral dilemma and Zachary Quinto as the young and shy genius whiz-kid, were both highlights for me. The film's director, J. C. Chandor, does a fantastic job of building tension and suspense. This film is a must see for anyone who enjoys smart and thoughtful movies.
So, I got too keen to see this movie to wait for it to be released in the cinemas here, so I watched it online. And man, I'm glad I did! I don't actually know a lot about the financial issues this film gets into - but I found that this didn't matter at all when watching Margin Call. I was already a massive fan of Zachary Quinto and Jeremy Irons, and they were both absolutely wonderful and convincing. However, one of the more involved performances was probably that of Kevin Spacey - and he was just brilliant. He really captured the desperate but resigned emotion running throughout the entire film. While I might have been able to appreciate the film better if I DID know more about finances, I can confidently say that the film was just as brilliant for me, as what we need to know is basically described in the film anyway. The superb acting made this independent film completely worth it - I definitely recommend it :)
If nothing else, Margin Call serves as a rebuke to "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" emphatic style - which ultimately glamorizes the profession it means to shame - and brings this dangerous numbers game back to the trading-floor desktops and mahogany-covered conference tables where it belongs. It isn't sexy, but the stakes feel much higher.
Chock-full of terrific performances, Margin Call is the kind of gripping, grown-up film that these days is usually found on the small screen.
Spacey is watchable as the veteran trading boss, in a state of near-breakdown, who discovers all too late that he has a kind of conscience.
The first-rate cast cannot be faulted. Chandor has assembled an extraordinary ensemble.
The accomplishment of this movie is that it allows you to sympathize with them, to acknowledge the reality of their predicament, without letting them off the hook or forgetting the damage they did.
