Margin Call is one way of examining the economic collapse in 2008. It doesn't name names or implicate certain companies, but what it does do is utilize what we know and force us to complete the picture. We follow a trading company's 24 hour meltdown. The head of risk management (Tucci) is let go from the company just as he stumbles upon an alarming trend in the company's earnings. He gives the data to one of his workers (Quinto) who in turn discovers the horrifying truth about the companies dealings.
The matter goes through a series of bosses (Spacey, Baker, Irons), causing the company to come to an emergency meeting to try and figure out what to do next. Like many of us "normal" citizens, we woke up one morning and found that the stock market had taken a historic hit. And like "normal" citizens it took a while to figure out what happened and is still to an extent being explained to us (thank you Inside Job, Capitalism: A Love Story). Chandor realized this when writing and knew that a lot of the people implicated didn't quite understand what exactly they were doing. So we along with a lot of these "high-up" people find out from workers like Quinto that the work they have been doing was morally wrong and they are now facing one of the biggest and most dangerous decisions in US history.
Chandor does an excellent job in explaining what happened without really saying for sure what happened. He puts into layman's terms the basics of what happened, but we never know exactly how the company did what the did and what they did it with (that was a mouthful). It all sounds kind of boring on paper, but when people who care about what they are talking about discuss it with passion, it becomes very interesting.
Now, I am not one to get caught up with politics or news of this sort (I try to keep up on current events, emphasis on try) but I must say this was the most eye-opening explanation of the economic crisis I have seen yet. It was engrossing, enlightening, gripping, and hard to believe. Granted this is a work of fiction, I can imagine that Mr. Chandor did lots of homework in preparing to discuss this subject.
I wouldn't say that there is a standout performance here (other than Chandor). This was really an ensemble effort. Each performance had to be as convincing and as strong as every other. If one link in the chain breaks off, everybody falls. If I had to pick someone that really stood apart from the rest I would give it to Spacey. I really felt that he nailed the part. We really see him change over the course of the film, yet in a way we're not sure if he ever really will change.
These characters live in a culture like that of Oliver Stone's Wall Street. They waste money, try to accumulate as much money, and leave morality on the side. The work that they do involved not just numbers on a computer screen but the lives of millions of people. Their loss is a much greater loss for the general population. I found myself enraged at how some of these people think and act, but when I really thought about, they don't know any better. They've been spoiled their whole lives. It's pitiful. I honestly feel sorry that these people can't see past making a dollar than owning up to their mistake. The cast does a fantastic job in conveying this feeling. You can see the internal struggle start to manifest externally.
This is probably going to be as good as it gets for fictionalizing the economic disaster or 2008. I can't see how someone could improve upon it without naming names and villainizing people and corporations. It's a disturbing film in some regards (when you look at what is actually happening), but it's a breath of fresh air as far as filmmaking. Wonderful debut by Chandor. Very excited to see where he goes.
The matter goes through a series of bosses (Spacey, Baker, Irons), causing the company to come to an emergency meeting to try and figure out what to do next. Like many of us "normal" citizens, we woke up one morning and found that the stock market had taken a historic hit. And like "normal" citizens it took a while to figure out what happened and is still to an extent being explained to us (thank you Inside Job, Capitalism: A Love Story). Chandor realized this when writing and knew that a lot of the people implicated didn't quite understand what exactly they were doing. So we along with a lot of these "high-up" people find out from workers like Quinto that the work they have been doing was morally wrong and they are now facing one of the biggest and most dangerous decisions in US history.
Chandor does an excellent job in explaining what happened without really saying for sure what happened. He puts into layman's terms the basics of what happened, but we never know exactly how the company did what the did and what they did it with (that was a mouthful). It all sounds kind of boring on paper, but when people who care about what they are talking about discuss it with passion, it becomes very interesting.
Now, I am not one to get caught up with politics or news of this sort (I try to keep up on current events, emphasis on try) but I must say this was the most eye-opening explanation of the economic crisis I have seen yet. It was engrossing, enlightening, gripping, and hard to believe. Granted this is a work of fiction, I can imagine that Mr. Chandor did lots of homework in preparing to discuss this subject.
I wouldn't say that there is a standout performance here (other than Chandor). This was really an ensemble effort. Each performance had to be as convincing and as strong as every other. If one link in the chain breaks off, everybody falls. If I had to pick someone that really stood apart from the rest I would give it to Spacey. I really felt that he nailed the part. We really see him change over the course of the film, yet in a way we're not sure if he ever really will change.
These characters live in a culture like that of Oliver Stone's Wall Street. They waste money, try to accumulate as much money, and leave morality on the side. The work that they do involved not just numbers on a computer screen but the lives of millions of people. Their loss is a much greater loss for the general population. I found myself enraged at how some of these people think and act, but when I really thought about, they don't know any better. They've been spoiled their whole lives. It's pitiful. I honestly feel sorry that these people can't see past making a dollar than owning up to their mistake. The cast does a fantastic job in conveying this feeling. You can see the internal struggle start to manifest externally.
This is probably going to be as good as it gets for fictionalizing the economic disaster or 2008. I can't see how someone could improve upon it without naming names and villainizing people and corporations. It's a disturbing film in some regards (when you look at what is actually happening), but it's a breath of fresh air as far as filmmaking. Wonderful debut by Chandor. Very excited to see where he goes.