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#338 - Margin Call
J.C. Chandor, 2011
In the lead-up to the Global Financial Crisis, a laid-off employee of a Wall Street bank passes on an unfinished project to a co-worker and starts off a corporate crisis in the process.
It's hard to know which of the film's rather impressive stable of actors delivers the best performance: Kevin Spacey seems like the obvious choice as an especially conflicted executive who is one of the first to learn of the crisis and is caught between caring for subordinates and preserving his own position due to his somewhat trite but effective motivation of paying his pet dog's expensive medical bills. Zachary Quinto and Penn Badgely more than hold their own against more experienced performers as the young analysts who first discover the problem at the heart of the film, and their interplay with Paul Bettany's embittered superior makes for some good scenes (most memorably the one on the rooftop of their company's building). Jeremy Irons also gets in a good turn as the company's crusty-voiced CEO, whose speech at the end of the film also makes for a highlight of the film. Simon Baker and Demi Moore also show up as well, neither of which gets any particularly distinctive material but both put in decent turns.
Despite the considerably talented ensemble, Margin Call is a decent but not amazing film that involves a lot of its drama being built around exchanges of financial jargon and will of course demand a lot of attention to follow along with its dialogue-driven plot. The strong cast of veteran actors (with a couple of newcomers thrown in for good measure) do their best to deliver such complex dialogue without talking down to audiences or going too far over their heads. In addition to the strong actors, first-time director Chandor demonstrates considerable talent behind the camera, making the film not too stolid or erratic in its depiction of events.
J.C. Chandor, 2011
In the lead-up to the Global Financial Crisis, a laid-off employee of a Wall Street bank passes on an unfinished project to a co-worker and starts off a corporate crisis in the process.
It's hard to know which of the film's rather impressive stable of actors delivers the best performance: Kevin Spacey seems like the obvious choice as an especially conflicted executive who is one of the first to learn of the crisis and is caught between caring for subordinates and preserving his own position due to his somewhat trite but effective motivation of paying his pet dog's expensive medical bills. Zachary Quinto and Penn Badgely more than hold their own against more experienced performers as the young analysts who first discover the problem at the heart of the film, and their interplay with Paul Bettany's embittered superior makes for some good scenes (most memorably the one on the rooftop of their company's building). Jeremy Irons also gets in a good turn as the company's crusty-voiced CEO, whose speech at the end of the film also makes for a highlight of the film. Simon Baker and Demi Moore also show up as well, neither of which gets any particularly distinctive material but both put in decent turns.
Despite the considerably talented ensemble, Margin Call is a decent but not amazing film that involves a lot of its drama being built around exchanges of financial jargon and will of course demand a lot of attention to follow along with its dialogue-driven plot. The strong cast of veteran actors (with a couple of newcomers thrown in for good measure) do their best to deliver such complex dialogue without talking down to audiences or going too far over their heads. In addition to the strong actors, first-time director Chandor demonstrates considerable talent behind the camera, making the film not too stolid or erratic in its depiction of events.