Margin Call

Outstanding. Script is really well written and the acting execution top-notch. Kevin Spacey, Zach Quinto and Stanley Tucci are at the top of their game. From wikipedia: "...Smart, tightly wound, and solidly acted, Margin Call turns the convoluted financial meltdown of '08 into gripping, thought-provoking drama." The New Yorker film critic David Denby said it was "easily the best Wall Street movie ever made". Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and half stars out of four, and said: "Margin Call employs an excellent cast who can make financial talk into compelling dialogue." A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote: "It is hard to believe that Margin Call is Mr. Chandor’s first feature. His formal command — his ability to imply far more than he shows or says and to orchestrate a large, complex drama out of whispers, glances and snippets of jargon — is downright awe inspiring."

Movie failed to develop the characters or explain much of what lead up to the collapse. The story line lacked sophistication - imagine a group of executives huddled around a computer screen or print out, saying is this correct, who has seen this and what do we do - there's your movie. Oh, and the executives were surprised. The fact that financial institutions invested in and then sold worthless securities is well known but this is the only issue this movie seems to focus on. Kevin Spacey seemed to be the only actor who showed up and tried to bring depth but that may be because he had a bit more to work with.

A highly realistic movie in many ways, both emotionally and in terms of how Wall Street really works. Some of the dialog comes off as stupid at moments because the financial issues have to be simplified for general consumption and a few of the characters are not well sketched out, but other than that this is a pretty masterful ensemble acting job set in the cold, anonymous landscape that is today's financial markets.