Margin Call | Review
‘Margin Call’ is the kind of film that speaks to the times we’re living in right this minute. The effects from the 2007/2008 financial crisis can still be felt. In fact, the Occupy Wall Street movement is protesting against some of the same types of people presented in this film.
Set at an unnamed investment firm during the early stages of the 2007/2008 financial crisis, the film opens with a mass layoff at the the company. One of the unfortunate people let go is Eric Dale (Stanley Tucci, ‘Captain America: The First Avenger‘), the manager of the risk management department. Before Dale leaves the company he leaves a co-worker a USB drive. The co-worker is Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto, ‘Star Trek’), a junior analyst and “rocket scientist,” goes through the files kept on the USB and discovers something terrifying; the investment firm he works for is on the brink of collapsing, which could lead the market to the same fate.
When Peter contacts his higher-up, Will Emerson (Paul Bettany, ‘Iron Man’), he too realizes the importance of the situation and contacts his boss, Sam Rogers (Kevin Spacey, ‘Horrible Bosses‘), who then contacts his boss, Jared Cohen (Simon Baker, ‘The Mentalist’), until finally the CEO of the company is reached. The CEO, John Tuld (Jeremy Irons), is the surrogate character for the audience. He doesn’t really understand financial talk, so Tuld requires his workers to explain to him the situation in simple grade school terms.
The crisis leads to John’s decision to sell off all of the company’s bad, and practically worthless, market holdings. Selling these worthless assets will tarnish the company’s relationships with its investors and ruin the market. In doing so, the company will make a small profit before news of the company’s worthlessness breaks out.
‘Margin Call’ features an ensemble cast, whose characters must make moral decisions. They worry about the future of the company, how much money they make themselves, how much money their superiors make, and whether or not they should betray the everyday citizens who will be severely affected by the events of the firm’s actions.
Kevin Spacey is as engaging as ever in the film. He’s obviously attracted to intelligent films that speak to the times, as when he played a major role in the made-for-TV movie ‘Recount’. Now if only ‘Margin Call’ were as great and important of a film as it should have been. The film is definitely good and well-executed by director-writer J.C. Chandor, but it relies too heavily on conversations between its large cast of characters. Talky films aren’t necessarily bad, but they need to have intriguing and compelling conversations to keep one’s attention. Some of the conversations in the film just fly by over my head and I’ll have no idea what they characters are even talking about. ‘Margin Call’ is no ‘Social Network‘, which shows by the time the phrase “F*** me” is spoken for the tenth time.
‘Margin Call’ is a well-made and intelligent film that benefits heavily on the strong acting from its ensemble cast, which also includes Demi Moore and Penn Badgley (‘Easy A‘). It’s a film that further explores the complicated world of Wall Street, where businesses will do whatever it takes to survive.
Three out of four Kents.
