adonis98-743-186503 A chronicle of Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme, which defrauded his clients of billions of dollars. The Wizard of Lies packs a dark but also captivating performance by Robert De Niro who shines as Bernie Madoff also it's more than welcome seeing the great Michelle Pfeiffer acting again since 2013's The Family who starred again next to De Niro. The film is based on true events about something that i didn't know honestly and it's good seeing it been translated it on the small screen with a talented cast and wonderful performances from the entire cast. Personally i found the allegations against Madoff quite extreme? I mean common 150 years in prison? which is 1800 weeks? When at the same time are rapists, murderers and psychopaths that are 50 times worse than Madoff but i guess that's how the system works. What Madoff did was bad and wrong but thanks to the great performances by De Niro and Pfeiffer i actually felt a bit bad about their family and the tragedy that happened to their sons. As for flaws with the film? i think it was definitely the run time since there are scenes that weren't that interesting or even important that were needed to be explored but overall The Wizard of Lies is a nice comeback from De Niro after some really terrible movie choices and a welcome return for Pfeiffer as well. (8/10)

bettycjung 10/23/17. A decent TV movie about the Madoff debacle. This is the side that the public did not know that much about - what happened to the family. De Niro does a fine job as Madoff, a man swallowed by Greed, and Pfeiffer as his long suffering wife, who lost it all as well. Perhaps, a good lesson from all this is - Greed is never good, and that the piper will always get paid in the end.

angelod-41401 The Wizard of Lies had a great cast and also great usage of dialogue. However, some of the moments have prolonged moments of business talking and family discussions that you have no background on. Although, some moments of those discussions impact the story and aren't boring. SPOILERS AHEAD: Some of the scenes that have the violent content are intense and very eerie. For example, the aftermath of the suicide is very creepy with the dark lighting and horrifying score. DeNiro did an amazing job in this film and really portrayed the feel the real Bernie felt when he betrayed his family and many other people. The brothers (I thought) did an excellent job. Bernie's wife really had that spoiled rich person feel which while at the time annoying, true. That's how people act when they are given that much power and money. That's all I have to say about The Wizard of Lies.

moonspinner55 A maze of personalities, character conflicts, financial downfall and modern-day Shakespearian betrayal permeates the Bernard Madoff story, masterfully adapted from Diana B. Henriques' book for HBO by Sam Levinson, Sam Baum and John Burnham Schwartz. Robert De Niro portrays American stockbroker Madoff, an investment adviser and financier who, after coming to the realization in the fall of 2008 that keeping up the façade to preserve his empire was too much to bear, confessed he was the operator of a Ponzi scheme, defrauding his wealthy clients out of some $65 billion, the largest financial fraud in U.S. history. A byzantine collection of family members, angry investors, employees and unwitting accomplices join the puzzled FBI and the disgusted media in taking Madoff to task for his actions--actions for which Madoff has no excuse. "I never thought of what I was doing as stealing," he says, adding, "My biggest weakness is I always wanted to please people...that's one that can get you into trouble." Thoroughly engrossing depiction of recent history, full of ferociously frank, barbed dialogue and terrific performances from the ensemble cast. Barry Levinson helmed the smooth direction, aided by Ron Patane's efficient past-and-present editing.