Bailout: The Age of Greed

Over the years there have been a few movies and documentaries telling the stories of big-bank-victims, as I prefer to call them. Movies like 'Margin Call', and documentaries like 'Inside Job'. Both movies tried to give a (somewhat), reconstruction of what happened during the crisis. Thank god, someone finally wrote a script about taking revenge on Wallstreet and Uwe Boll did a great job executing it. Certainly, the movie delivers on the title, Assault On Wallstreet.

The elements such as casting, cinematography and emotions are all surprisingly good, especially for a movie directed by Uwe Boll. To be honest, this director had managed to make a train wreck out of promising movies in the past, this being far from it. Foremost, the feeling of injustice and frustration for Jim Baxford (acted perfectly by Dominic Purcell), really gets under your skin. Also, news program quotes during the movie add a great effect about the message of anger of the people versus the big banks and CEO's directing them. All of this has been filmed and edited perfectly, meaning there is no moment when it's distracting because of CGI, or other trickery.

When I picked the movie, I expected a full-out action movie based on the poster. However I was surprised by the depth of the movie and action fans might get disappointed by the lack of action, it actually skips through most of it. But, the climax of the movie certainly delivered both action as story wise.

"The real criminals are downtown on Wall Street wearing suits that cost more then any of us make in a year and they steal more money the anyone on Rikers Island ever dreamed of." Jim Baxford (Purcell) is a hard working man with a very sick wife. When advice he took ends with him losing all his money when the stock market tanked his life begins to spiral out of control. When he loses everything he snaps, and no one is safe. This is a movie that will make you feel many different types of emotions, mostly anger. An everyman gets screwed over and the bad news seems to pile on him again and again and finally does what some have only dreamed of. This is another movie that I do not advocate what he does, but it sure is fun to watch. This movie reminded me a lot of Falling Down in the way that that character also snapped and does things that I have always wanted to. By the time he snaps you really feel for him and are almost happy he does. I really liked this and I recommend the movie highly. Overall, one of the best B movies I have seen and Uwe Boll's best movie to date. I give this an A-.

7.25 of 10. This is essentially V for Vendetta set in the present/recent past and without the sci-fi, alternate reality aspect. It could easily be a true story.

The story and direction keep it feeling real for the most part outside of a key point that's frustrating because it happens too fast and is an overly simplistic, accelerated series of events. It may feel that way intentionally for mood setting or because the film slowly sets the stage. Nonetheless, it's not a good idea for a film to go from a slow, detailed time-line to weeks/months flying by then back again.

The everyday, real character setups and contrasts along with the irony of guns vs. Wall Street make the film work. The characters aren't required to do anything the relatively average actors can't handle, so there's no need to worry about the lack of big names. Instead, it helps keep the film believable. There are also some enjoyably truth-is-stranger-than-fiction type scenes where music is seamlessly woven in to create for some needed laughs in a film that's mostly serious drama.

Dominic Purcell and Erin Karpluk deliver performances that belong in a better movie.

The idea that Wall Street engaged in criminal activity and was bailed by the Government is not new. The real criminals walk free with big bonuses, and the people are bankrupt and penniless.

I found it totally funny that a priest was using Psalm 18 at a funeral in the midst of this. It was a call to action. What else can you do when your have lost everything?

All the action takes place in the last third f the movie, but the first part was necessary to set it up. You could see the rage building, and the revenge was sweet. Didn't expect the ending.

There is a lot of truth in this movie. I do not care if you are Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, or other, if you listen closely the rants and the facts in the background of the movie should ring true. We are all slaves to the system and also the "old money" described in one of the later rants. However, remember that many middle or even high level employees and owners of Wall Street have no idea they work for a corrupt system.

I believe that the acting and atmosphere were solid, especially for a low budget movie. However, the movie was a bit romanticized and unrealistic.

I would recommend this movie to someone who is yearning for a better understanding of politics, money in general, and who wants to also be mildly entertained. I would not recommend this movie to anyone who watches for the sole purpose of being entertained, it cannot compete with other movies in terms of pure entertainment value.