Margin Call

Margin Call is one of those movies that stand out not for what they say, but for how they say it. I care very little for a story about the financial crisis, and for the moral theme involved; but this movie does a very good job in storytelling, so that the story becomes interesting. The idea of focusing on the very first hours of the crisis is very smart. The direction is good, the dialogues are flawless, there's a lot of interesting characters, and the acting from an outstanding cast is fantastic.

I was a stockbroker in '08/09 and will never forget the panicked feeling on the trading desk on a daily basis. Unfortunately, nothing has changed. Greed still drives the market, inexorably towards the next GFC. Lessons were given out but none learnt.

And Demi Moore....wow.

I'll have to start by saying this film will not be for everyone. This film lacks the needed tension for a Friday film night for example, but this film is heavily relatable and the acting and characters are superb and carry this film.

So why did i find this interesting? The characters. What this film is illustrating is the "behind the scenes" of a giant corporation and how they deal with a giant crisis. The characters that stood out for me were Penn Badgeley, Paul Bettany and Kevin Spacey. To start they were acted superbly well, but I really did relate to them, Penn in particular, and it had me absolutely hooked in.

It's a weird review to write, because I'd normally talk about the plot seen as though that's the main thing you notice about a film when you watch it and it makes or breaks any movie. This is just a little different, because as mentioned prior this film lacks a certain tension needed. The film itself is really smartly written, but it needed a little more to it, to entice you in more.

I personally enjoyed it, but I will guarantee people will hate it due to the lack of things going on. But if you really focus on the characters and their characteristics, it's a really enjoyable and relatable watch. 7/10 from me.

Not a money guy myself, I was initially jittery about watching this one fearing difficulty understanding it. However, quite pleasantly the movie is built so smoothly and without much Wall Street sort of jargon, it was pretty easy watch.

And gladly, it made me have a peak show to those institutions who control our financial lives throughout. The casts, the acting are top notch. Only the dialogs were enough to build, mount and keep the tension level high. Go for it.

I saw this film as part of the Ghent filmfestival 2011. Its announcement promised an inside view in the financial industry, and particularly how it could cause the recent financial crisis. And precisely this is what it did splendidly. I gave it a "very good"mark (5 out of 5) for the public prize competition when leaving the theater.

I particularly liked the way they avoided the techno babble about financial products, from which we all learned the hard way to be paper constructs only, none of these related with things in the real world. The story also clearly illustrates that higher echelons in the financial industry do not under­stand those technicalities either, something we assumed all along but didn't dare to ask for confirmation.

Departing from the very different purposes and backgrounds of the main characters, the story line got us involved in the attempts of each of them to cope with the situation at hand. Though their job motivations may drastically differ from yours and mine, this film had no really distinct good and bad guys.

The main characters were properly introduced in the time-line when logically needed. We got the chance to know each of them, with their own coping behavior in this volatile environ­meant, yet every­one bringing along his own human characteristics. In the process we also saw the golden chains to attach each of them to the company, making it virtually impossible to cut themselves loose from this line of work. We may call it greed, but it is a fact of life that everyone gets used to incoming cash flow, however large and unnecessary it may seem in our eyes. Once being there, it is logical to buy a bigger house and to send kids to expensive schools. After that there is no easy way back, and each one smoothly grows into a life style that is difficult to escape from.

The story line as such is not that important, apart from the fact that it succeeds very well in tying all the above together. It also maintains a constant tension all the time. I consider both aspects an achievement in itself, since nothing really happens in terms of dead bodies, physical fights, and chasing cars. Only a few short scenes were shot outside, but all the rest happened in a standard office building. The final outdoor scene was a bit unexpected (I won't spoil it for you), but it shows that even bankers are human after all.