Linha Reta

The movie is projecting modern society's hunger to grasp more from life, to get richer and faster. While the story and pace of the movie is fast enough to keep our interest in it,the script however, feels a little dry. Imagery is just captivating and production design is on top. The highest praise I can think of the movie is Alexander Skaarsgard's acting - which is smart, emotional, funny and nothing he has done before. A supporting actor nomination is a possibility if the movie gets wider recognition and release.

I was interested to see this having read Micheal Lewis non-fiction book Flash boys and if I didn't know better I would say this book had just taken the premise of that book and tried to put a fiction film around the basics of it.

The technology is close to real life and quite interesting, plus the size of the project is quite something to see.

However the plot is just about ok if a little ridiculous at times and the story lacks a build up of any tension or suspense so is just a bit flat.

Jesse Eisenberg and Alexander Skarsgard are entrepreneurs who undertake an audacious venture to deliver a fiber optic cable from Kansas to the New York Stock Exchange that is faster than all the other portals by just enough to make a staggering difference in market returns. In choosing to take this gamble, they wind up using valuable information obtained from working for their former boss (an effectively domineering Salma Hayek) whom they now find is their competition.

Although this is a well-acted film, its momentum is a bit erratic. The storyline never loses its energy but the plot sometimes takes peculiar detours. This ambitious enterprise is fraught with the emotional imbalance of its two dissimilar protagonists, one a highly calculating salesman (Eisenberg) and the other a neurotic computer wiz (Skarsgard). We discover that each one has motivations of his own. As considerable opposites, they keep the film's dynamic engaging.

Some of the film's best moments are when these two aspiring masters of the universe find the core principles behind their work being challenged by the citizenry they cross paths with. The film takes a mild-mannered look at the ethics of the project but mostly lets the audience judge for itself. Recommended as workmanlike filmmaking on obscure but compelling material.

I liked this movie a lot. Don't pay much attention to ratings, watch it and decide for yourself, I'm glad I did that. Good movie.

Don't waste your time. There is nothing compelling about this story and at the end, all was for naught. There isn't even a legitimate antagonist, so what drives these ambitious tech geeks to succeed? Nobody knows and neither will you! I saw other reviews praising Skarsgard for a breakout performance, but even that was run of the mill. Just because you're naturally handsome in real life and you use makeup to make yourself bald and gain a few pounds to look out of shape, does not an Oscar caliber performance make. This could have been great, but fell flat in every way. Mediocre writing, mediocre direction, mediocre performances, mediocre cinematography. You walk into the film with the promise of a 5-star meal, but you find yourself served with McDonald's. Use your time on something worth it.