MOVIE REVIEW: "Margin Call" (2011)


So @CNBC shows this commercial for this movie dubbing it, "the best Wall Street movie to date", or something to that effect.  So I'm like, ok lemme check it out in lieu of all this "cock-upy" mess. lol  Now, we all know that the crash of 2008 was the most recent financial crisis of our time and generation.  And of course any true story always makes for some spicy realistic fiction drama, for the sake of relevancy and authenticity...but I digress.

The movie starts off slow but poignant, and stays that way.  It keeps a gentle pace so that the audience can soak up the ramifications of THE situation the characters were dealing with.  Watching it was like the thrill of watching Commodus in "Gladiator" (2000) take it in the windpipe, yet feeling every inch for an hour and a half.  The dialogue was short and to the point, as most financiers are. lol  The emotion was, for lack of a better word, stoic, needless to say, as most financiers are.  (There are no feelings in money.)  And the coup de grace, the ending...one thing I've learned is that when a drama film has a limp ending, it's meant to deliver some succinct, sublime moral.  (NO SPOILERS)

To my surprise, for such a short, low budget, low publicized film, the cast was riddled with some real A-list actors.

Kevin Spacey

One of my favorite actors of all time.  If you remember him from "Seven" (1995) and "American Beauty" (1999).  He never let me down.  In his true style and cold, satirical, as always.  He played the top guy in a series of top guys in a corporate food chain.  His character gets put in between a rock and a hard place to make moral decisions and save his pet dog.

Stanley Tucci

Mr. "Devil Wears Prada" 2006, betcheeeezzzz!  He plays the fallen angel of a downsizing and gets resurrected by his complex research of a financial nightmare imminent to come true.

Simon Baker

The handsome dude from "The Mentalist" (TV), who was also in "Devil Wears Prada", and yaaaaaassss "Something New" (2006) with Sanai Lathan.  He plays another top dog, who happens to be the "executioner" of the story.  The young boy wonder who shoots up the corporate ladder passed all the veterans and calls the shots that no one else wants to.  Even colder than Kevin Spacey's character.

Demi Moore

You already know who she is.  In this film, Simon's character's sidekick.  Her character takes an ironic turn of fate.  In this film, she kinda went into an acting toe-to-toe with Simon, but watch the film to see how that panned out.

Zachary Quinto

"Star Trek" (2010) (Spoc...I remembered those eyebrows from somewhere. lmao)  His acting was just as good as it was in "Star Trek".  #kanyeshrug  But it kinda fit his character in this film.  "Who'da thunk it", it would take a doggone rocket scientist to figure out the crash of 2008...but oh well.

Paul Bettany

Can you believe this guy was the voice of "Jarvis" in "Iron Man" (2008, 2010)!  He was also in "The Da Vinci Code" 2006 and "A Beautiful Mind" 2001.  His character was sort of a personal mediator between the other characters and sort of an emotional usher to the story, who holds the audiences' hand through this "cruel financial world".  Making declarations about the perceptions of the common American in relation to the power Wall Street holds.

Jeremy Irons

OOooooo-m-gizzle!!!  This guy was the voice of "Scar" in "The Lion King" (1994)!  A more veteran actor.  This guy's character is the "finisher" to Simon Baker's "executioner" character.  The main big dog who gives it plain so he likes it plain.  

There was one visceral emotional scene in the entire movie.  The rest of the emotion would have to come from the viewer.  I will say this...do not watch this movie expecting some big "oooh" and "aaaaah".  This film was more like the capturing of an event.  What you get is what you get.  And don't try to follow the jargon if you aren't educated in the field.  It'll just drive you crazy.  Also watch it more than once so you can get the message of what the movie is trying to portray.

What I got from it?...that anything can happen to anyone, and any small thing can become a big thing.  I also learned that hustlers do have a heart, it's just that most of 'em can't afford it.  #kanyeshrug

Here's the trailer if you wanna feel it for yourself...







"Invest in the brand!"


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