Margin Call

2011 "Be first. Be smarter. Or cheat."
Margin Call
7.1| 1h47m| R| en| More Info
Released: 21 October 2011 Released
Producted By: Myriad Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.margincallmovie.com/
Synopsis

A thriller that revolves around the key people at an investment bank over a 24-hour period during the early stages of the financial crisis.

... View More
Stream Online

The movie is currently not available onine

Director

Producted By

Myriad Pictures

Trailers & Images

Reviews

Icarus Alexander Better to understand what a mortgage-backed security (MBS) is to fully appreciate this movie. A well acted slow burn financial drama set during the banking collapse of 2008 with a splash of morality. Kevin Spacey was the one with a heart. He cared about people and his dog. The irony.
peterquennell I work in unrelated industries in NYC (first UN, now econ growth) and was blogging on NYC development from 2005 and wrote posts on the fairly obvious growing storm.The film has a beautiful look, pacing, casting, acting, gripping story, what appear to be the main thrusts are all there. But three are not, that I could see, and would have made for an 11 if they were.First, the great underlying crime and real victims. The crime is what the Countrywide Mortgage Company under Angelo Mozilo was up to, extending mortgages initially at low payments to poorer folks, way too many of them Hispanic or Black, and then jacking up the rates after around 5 years, thus causing giant waves of defaults and foreclosures on millions of homes. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin was in this game too. He foreclosed on a 90 year old woman over 27 cents and over 50,000 in total. The toxic sub-prime "paper" that resulted (these mortgages bundled with more highly rated mortgages) was the cancerous cause of the situation seen in the film. Merrill Lynch/Bank of America were forced to buy Countrywide as the cost of their being kept alive; Bear Sterns and Lehman Brothers (the models for this film) had less luck. Google this 2016 article in the New York Times for more. "Countrywide Mortgage Devastation Lingers as Ex-Chief Moves On".Second, it was widely known from 2000 on that the derivatives market was a house of cards. MOZILO HIMSELF SAID SO!! Around 2003. The mentality in the banks was "So what? We are smart enough to be the first out the door."The spark that started the race to get out was the property market flattening out around 2006, as seen by a whole lot of quants (who often did warn the deaf ears higher up.) Third, the regulators were asleep at the wheel. Are they mentioned in the film? It was a bit hard to miss them, they dont work in an ivory tower in Washington. They are embedded in every bank! But they are atoms and the whole gestalt was not being seen.
maxwellcooper I had read good reviews of this film, and combined with the subject matter which interested me, I was expecting to enjoy it a lot. To be honest I was a little disappointed. The whole thing just came off as rather flat and "bloodless" to me. I guess "bloodless" is perhaps what the movie makers were going for in a sense -- depicting the rather cold-blooded reality of a big financial corporation on Wall street. I just could not especially get excited by the action of a bunch of people in suits grimly talking about what they seemed to all see as a foregone conclusion, the moves they would have to make, etc. That said, I do feel that the film has an important message at least: through so clearly depicting the utterly immoral (or better, should I say "Amoral"- a world that where it seems "morality" is not even as something real), the utterly non-moral world of Finance Capitalism. A bunch of people trying to make money because they just believe that is the only thing there is to do.
Will Elliott I have now seen this film twice. Both times have left me marvelling at the direction, acting and at the story itself. J.C. Chandor's first film is exceptional. the all too real events he has depicted are shown The very tense scenes showcase this young directors abilities. To create an atmosphere from speech alone is quite an achievement. The lack of music for said scenes brings you right into the film. Jeremy Irons great line "So that we may survive" makes you feel as if you are in that crisis meetingThe actors are fantastic and tie in this film that gives us a glimpse into the financial crisis that went on around us. After watching this for the second time it seems as though everything hangs on such delicate theories and formulas. Personally it reminds me about how little I know about the world. I felt very small watching this film, it certainly gives us some perspective! A simple setting, clever direction and a brilliant cast make this one of the best suspense thrillers I have ever seen. In fact I've not seen a film like it. Quite simply 10/10