Margin Call
2011
***
Director: J.C. Chandor
Cast: Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci
After another round of layoffs in a fictional Wall Street investment bank, a senior analyst discovers that the entire company is about go under. The analysts and executives spend the night deciding whether to sell the firm's toxic assets at the risk of crippling the global economy. J.C. Chandor's feature debut is a well-acted, well-researched, and thought-provoking drama, which paints a grim and cynical picture of the financial meltdown in 2008. The events bear some resemblance to those at Goldman Sachs during the crisis. The film is slow-paced and not exactly a barrel of fun. It mostly involves men in suits talking and making heavy-handed "we used to make things, now we just make money" statements.
