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Margin Call
Margin Call is a surprisingly good movie. With it being billed as a thriller, I was expecting someone to get murdered, or have a secret affair, or pull off a daring heist or something. I kept waiting for the melodramatic twist, but there weren't any.
It's just the story of what happens in one night at a bank when someone finally realizes that the formula they've used to calculate risk is fatally flawed and they--and the entire banking system--are about to collapse. You're just watching that piece of information travel through the bank, and the choices people make, and the consequences.
The surprising thing is how non-judgmental it is. It isn't defending bankers or vilifying them. And the opening scene sets you up to feel that certain characters are sleezeballs that turn out to not quite be as unprincipled as you've been trained to think.
A solidly acted, well-put-together film. If you have any interest in the financial crisis, check it out.
(Note: The screenwriter's dad worked for Morgan Stanley for thirty years, and he spoke to many bankers while making the film, but he never worked in banking himself. So it feels very accurate to the corporate culture of a bank, but I don't know if that impression would hold up to a viewer who's in the industry and worked through the crisis.)
It's just the story of what happens in one night at a bank when someone finally realizes that the formula they've used to calculate risk is fatally flawed and they--and the entire banking system--are about to collapse. You're just watching that piece of information travel through the bank, and the choices people make, and the consequences.
The surprising thing is how non-judgmental it is. It isn't defending bankers or vilifying them. And the opening scene sets you up to feel that certain characters are sleezeballs that turn out to not quite be as unprincipled as you've been trained to think.
A solidly acted, well-put-together film. If you have any interest in the financial crisis, check it out.
(Note: The screenwriter's dad worked for Morgan Stanley for thirty years, and he spoke to many bankers while making the film, but he never worked in banking himself. So it feels very accurate to the corporate culture of a bank, but I don't know if that impression would hold up to a viewer who's in the industry and worked through the crisis.)
no subject
Social Network felt a lot more biased to me. But I will not, Margin Call does fail the Bechdel Test. There is one female banker, played by Demi Moore, but she's not exactly sympathetic.