Madoff

"Madoff" is the story of sociopath Bernie Madoff, a story we all know too well. It's worth watching for the performances.

It stars Richard Dreyfuss as Madoff. He's terrific, and I imagine very much like the real man. The two-parter follows the story of the Ponzi scheme, the effect on Bernie's family, and Madoff's inner dialogue, done as a narration.

Other actors in this excellent cast include Blythe Danner, Tom Lipinski, Peter Scolari, Danny Deferrari, Frank Whaley, and Erin Cummings.

Though the first part is all over the place, with dizzying camera work and disjunctive scenes; the second part is much better.

The film does a great job of showing what happens when people -- like, for instance, the SEC -- turn a blind eye to something because they believe someone to be respectable. It took securities investigator Harry Markopolos 10 minutes to figure out that Madoff was running a Ponzi scheme, and six hours to figure out how he was doing it. But no one listened - and that's the title of his book.

It also demonstrates how Madoff saw himself as a victim, the "fall guy," finding it outrageous that he was being blamed.

Standout in the cast, besides Dreyfuss, is Peter Scolari as Peter Madoff - a brilliant, emotional performance; Tom Lipinski and Danny Deferrari as his sons, who found out the trading division they ran was just a front and turned him in; Blythe Danner as Ruth Madoff, who stood by him and tried to get her sons to sign a bond for his bail (they refused); and Michael Rispoli, who worked side by side with Bernie.

I saw "Enron: The Smartest Guy in the Room" and also a documentary about Madoff, and saw the SEC meeting where a Judge slammed the SEC, asking them "what the hell" they thought they were doing, ignoring countless letters of complaint about Madoff, and the fact that somehow they didn't know he wasn't a registered agent. Not that he needed to be one - the only investments he ever made were in his own bank account, to the tune of $50 billion.

For Bernie's investors, half of them as of this date have been completely repaid, with more money being returned all the time. Irving Picard has been diligent in going after Bernie's money - but mind you, he formed foundations and gave millions to charities, and those charities wound up having to return the money.

It's an awful story, but it's hard to have pity for Madoff. It's hard to feel sorry for his investors, because it was greed that brought them to him in the first place, the carrot of big money.

The ones to pity are the members of Madoff's family: his two sons, now both deceased, his son Andrew telling a newspaper that his father's disgrace "killed my brother (suicide) and it's killing me slowly (lmantle cell lymphoma)." The family has a genetic predisposition to cancer; leukemia killed his nephew Roger.

In one of the saddest moments of the film, Madoff presents his brother Peter (Scolari), Roger's father, with a new car shortly after Roger's death. Peter of course works in Madoff's firm and knows Bernie's methods aren't above board, but he doesn't know details. Peter gets into the car and sobs, "Roger, he's been paying me off for years, hasn't he?"

"Nobody wants the magic trick explained," Madoff tells his wife. And he was right. Nobody wants the magic trick explained as long as the checks are good and the money keeps rolling in.

This is by far the best production, documentaries included, of the Madoff story. The script was excellent. The information and plot are easy to follow without being weighed down by boring financial specifics. The major players are represented well and the acting is superb. Dreyfuss, Danner, and Rispoli make De Niro, Pfeiffer, and Azaria look like amateurs! I enjoyed the miniseries so much that I wish there were more episodes!

I didn't know that much about Bernie Madoff, except that he had supposedly cheated people out of millions of dollars. Actually, it was billions.

But right away Richard Dreyfuss made this supposedly evil man look like a great guy. You have to like him. He had his clients' best interests at heart, but he knew what he was doing would be frowned on by the SEC and the federal government. And yet he had been doing this since the 1960s--making big money for people regardless of what the market was doing.

And it became quickly apparent that Bernie cared about his family. A loving wife who had only a vague idea that her husband's dealings weren't quite legal. Two sons, one more uptight than the other, who like Sgt. Schultz knew NOTHING (at least that's how the movie portrays it). A brother who has some knowledge that Bernie's activities aren't what they should be, but is kept pretty much out of the picture.

Dreyfuss does a fantastic job. I might even say Emmy-worthy. Most of the time Bernie is quite charming and a good guy. He can get quite angry when pushed. Knowing investigators are this close to putting him away, he seems quite vulnerable. And this last part is shown quite effectively with rapid-fire editing. The sound stays consistent but we keep seeing the nightmare Bernie thinks is coming, or flashbacks, or whatever, in addition to what is happening now. And this editing technique is used several times.

Michael Rispoli is very good as the man in charge of the 17th floor. I should mention that the legitimate business operated from fabulous modern offices where everyone dressed for success on the 19th floor, where the employees included the brother and two sons. Mark resented that Frank got the promotion he deserved, but Bernie would not let his sons get mixed up in the illegal activities on the dark, depressing 17th floor where it was always Casual Friday.

Ben Dreyfuss effectively showed us a charming and ambitious but not particularly endearing young Bernie in flashbacks. He showed how Benrie learned to do what he did.

Blythe Danner is a loving, caring wife, until ... and then wait until you see what she's like. A very good job with a wide range of emotions.

Erin Cummings is impressive as the loyal secretary. She seems out of place with the New Yawk accent in these plush offices, but she is quite appealing.

Peter Scolari used to be so funny, but he's mostly serious here, which he has become good at in recent years. He really shows his ability when brother Peter's son gets very sick, and Peter starts feeling guilty about what he knows he has done wrong. And we have to go through the hard times with the family.

There are happy times with the family as well, which makes up for the difficulties.

But of course watching Bernie wine and dine and otherwise impress his billionaire clients (soon to be broke in some cases) is lots of fun. One of them is in West Palm Beach and the big band music in the scenes there is great.

Frank Whaley is the man who started the process of bringing down Bernie Madoff. Since some situations and people are fictional, we don't know if he's real or not, but it doesn't matter. He is a brilliant investigator who lacks people skills and is often quite nervous. People don't take him seriously, and even when they do, Bernie has the ability to talk himself out of the situation.

Or government officials are just morons. It doesn't matter. It's all quite entertaining. You want Bernie to win, but you know something is bound to happen.

And when it does, it really does. There goes that rapid-fire editing again, this time with the sound matching the visuals.

In one sequence the people are either real victims of Bernie Madoff or they are very good actors.

Also effective is the apparent use of real ABC News anchors reporting on the scandal.

Dreyfuss appeared on the TV screen during the closing credits, at least when I watched, to invite us to watch the real story coming up next, and to praise the talented actors and writers whose work we just saw, and I agree with him.

Like him or not, I think this movie is a winner.

Bernie Madoff (Richard Dreyfuss) was a trusted member of Wall Street and the chairman of Nasdaq. It shocked almost everyone when he's revealed to have run a giant Ponzi scheme. His wife Ruth (Blythe Danner) is clueless to the scheme and even his extra-marital affairs. He even cheats money out of his secretary Eleanor Squillari (Erin Cummings). His brother Peter (Peter Scolari) is troubled about his role as Chief Compliance Officer. His older son Mark is angry that he's not allowed to be involved in the company investments. His younger son Andrew also works for him and gets sick. Harry Markopolos (Frank Whaley) warned the SEC over and over again about the possible fraud at Madoff to no avail.

This two part network TV mini-series 2 x 2 hours is a bit too extended. As a drama, this would work much better compressed in half. The most important moment for me is back in the '29 when a young Madoff covered his client's losses. It explained how he started and the essence of what he's about. He's a confidence man. I don't need any more reveals about Madoff. That scene is eureka to Madoff and a perfect explanation of his character. The Harry Markopolos part provides some fun tension but that also gets played out. The rest about Bernie is a bit repetitive. I do not bemoan the secretary wanting a scene showing her being taken by Madoff. However, these self-serving scenes do pile up. The middle is a bit extended. Through it all, there is Dreyfuss doing great work.

Considering that they drag this out over nearly 3 full hours you would think you'd see it all. Not nearly enough is shown of how the Madoffs lived high on the hog for decades. And far too much time is spent leading up to the eventual crash and not enough is shown of the aftermath. If Madoff had only preyed upon the filthy rich he would have been far more forgivable, but he took down quite a few smaller folks in his fall from grace. To my way of thinking, Mark Madoff comes off as less redeemable than his father even though Mark supposedly had no knowledge of the ponzi scheme. What sort of son disowns his own father over a white collar crime?

The great irony in this tale is that ALL of Wall Street is one huge ponzi scheme. The eventual collapse will one day make Madoff a forgotten footnote. It's the age old truth folks - if an investment seems too good to be true, it is.

Overall an entertaining movie best viewed at double speed. It was nice to see Richard Dreyfus and Charles Grodin again.