BE FIRST. BE SMARTER. OR CHEAT.Ā
The last thing risk management analyst Eric Dale (Stanley Tucci) does before he’s fired from a Manhattan investment bank is hand a colleague (Zachary Quinto) a USB drive containing a project that he was working on; it turns out to be pure dynamite. In this independently produced drama, a very impressive writing and directing debut, we follow how a Goldman Sachs-type bank discovers that its current trading model could bring down the whole institution. Intense and dialogue-driven, the movie focuses on one chain of events that caused the 2008 financial crisis. The cast is a joy to watch, including Jeremy Irons (whose character was loosely based on Lehman Brothers chief Richard Fuld).
2011-U.S. 107 min. Color.Ā Produced byĀ Robert Ogden Barnum, Michael Benaroya, Neal Dodson, Joe Jenckes, Corey Moosa, Zachary Quinto.Ā Written and directed byĀ J.C. Chandor.Ā Cast:Ā Kevin Spacey (Sam Rogers), Paul Bettany (Will Emerson), Jeremy Irons (John Tuld), Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Bakerā¦Ā Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci.
Trivia: Ben Kingsley was allegedly first considered as Tuld.
Quote: “1637, 1797, 1819, 37, 57, 84, 1901, 07, 29, 1937, 1974, 1987 ā Jesus, didn’t that fuck me up good ā 92, 97, 2000 and whatever we want to call this. It’s all just the same thing over and over; we can’t help ourselves. And you and I can’t control it, or stop it, or even slow it. Or even ever-so-slightly alter it. We just react. And we make a lot of money if we get it right. And we get left by the side of the road if we get it wrong. And there have always been and there always will be the same percentage of winners and losers. Happy foxes and sadsacks.” (Irons to Spacey)
Last word: “Don’t get me wrong. I’m a capitalist. Some wanted this film to be more of an indictment of these people, and that’s not where I come from, obviously. A misuse of tremendous potential is what I wanted the film to be about, in a sort of sad way.” (Chandor, ProPublica)
