Cost of Capital

With insight, wit, and depth, "Cost of Capital" investigates the levels of power and competition when a private equity firm searches for new deals. The characters are complex, performances are layered and detailed, and the editing is well-paced, allowing moments and ideas to really land before a quickening of action. The directorial work feels like Michael Mann's, with camera and light creating imagery that supports the ideas behind the story. A few emotionally-tense moments for the main character are handled deftly, and what could have been a turn into sentimentality is instead a reveal of backstory which grounds the central hero in an all-too real contemporary economic problem.