Yes, it was made in 2011 and I only saw it a couple of days ago. And I fully expected to hate it as some type of propaganda. Instead I am forced to admit it is a pretty good film.
Margin Call is set in the opening of the 2008 stock market crash and financial crisis. The whole film follows one securities trading firm and its actions and events over 24 hours (some people said the firm in the film is modeled on Lehman Brothers but the events make it clear the firm modeled on is Goldman Sachs).
The film is pretty fast paced and largely stays out of the personal lives of its characters. It is a series of unwinding events that start with Zachary Quinto's character (a Risk Management analyst) working late and discovering that the basic risk formula that their firm and others had been basing the entire trade of Mortgage Based Securities on is incorrect, and that these asset based securities are actually worth FAR less than anyone realizes. And it unfolds from there.
Kevin Spacey does a good turn as the head of trading and (unlike most of his roles) is actually somewhat sympathetic here as he had warned others in the firm for weeks that something was off. Simon Baker is good as a sleazy exec as is Jeremy Irons as the CEO. You see Quinto's work go up the ladder, verified, executive all night meetings and then the very next day the actions taken by the firm in order to survive. The actions were not illegal but to put it lightly were unethical (they are illegal now). And these actions also cement that the firm being depicted is a fictionalized Goldman Sachs.
The pacing is excellent and it maintains tension well. And no bad performances - I even liked Demi Moore in this and usually she leaves me cold. And to my amazement it did not preach about anything. It had a sort of Jack Webb "just the facts" vibe to it.
Margin Call is set in the opening of the 2008 stock market crash and financial crisis. The whole film follows one securities trading firm and its actions and events over 24 hours (some people said the firm in the film is modeled on Lehman Brothers but the events make it clear the firm modeled on is Goldman Sachs).
The film is pretty fast paced and largely stays out of the personal lives of its characters. It is a series of unwinding events that start with Zachary Quinto's character (a Risk Management analyst) working late and discovering that the basic risk formula that their firm and others had been basing the entire trade of Mortgage Based Securities on is incorrect, and that these asset based securities are actually worth FAR less than anyone realizes. And it unfolds from there.
Kevin Spacey does a good turn as the head of trading and (unlike most of his roles) is actually somewhat sympathetic here as he had warned others in the firm for weeks that something was off. Simon Baker is good as a sleazy exec as is Jeremy Irons as the CEO. You see Quinto's work go up the ladder, verified, executive all night meetings and then the very next day the actions taken by the firm in order to survive. The actions were not illegal but to put it lightly were unethical (they are illegal now). And these actions also cement that the firm being depicted is a fictionalized Goldman Sachs.
The pacing is excellent and it maintains tension well. And no bad performances - I even liked Demi Moore in this and usually she leaves me cold. And to my amazement it did not preach about anything. It had a sort of Jack Webb "just the facts" vibe to it.
Last edited:
