MARGIN CALL (2011)

Genre: Drama
Director: JC Chandor
Cast: Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci
RunTime: 1 hr 49 mins
Released By:  Lighthouse Pictures & Cathay-Keris Films
Rating: M18 (Coarse Language)
Official Website: http://www.margincallmovie.com/

Opening Day: 29 December 2011

Synopsis: Set in the high-stakes world of the financial industry, Margin Call is a thriller entangling the key players at an investment firm during one perilous 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. When entry-level analyst Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm, a roller-coaster ride ensues as decisions both financial and moral catapult the lives of all involved to the brink of disaster. Expanding the parameters of genre, Margin Call is a riveting examination of the human components of a subject too often relegated to partisan issues of black and white.

Movie Review:

How many of us not working in the financial industry actually knew what precipitated the economic meltdown in 2008-09 that the world economy is still struggling to recover from today? The most we probably know is that some bad financial products that had something to do with subprime mortgages led to what President Obama proclaimed ‘the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s’. We also know this- at the heart of it all was greed, greed of the common man on the street and of course greed of the people on Wall Street.

The boardroom thriller ‘Margin Call’ imagines what could have happened in a Wall Street investment firm on the eve of the economic collapse, and though at no point is the firm named, the references to the now-defunct Lehman Brothers are all too obvious. After all, the company’s CEO is the magisterial John Tuld (played with chilling ease by Jeremy Irons), whose name rhymes with former Lehman head Richard Fuld. Tuld swoops in at 4 a.m. into the company’s towering New York building, in a sign of the severity of the crisis that the firm suddenly finds itself knee-deep in.

Unfolding over the course of a 36-hour period, the tense and tightly wound thriller begins as about 80% of the workforce on the risk management team is laid off when monthly profits from their mortgage-backed securities fall below the mark. One of those shown the door is senior analyst Eric Dale (Stanley Tucci), a longtime employee who’s recently been working on a project that he says is of utmost importance. But the human resource employee sent to convey the bad news would have none of it, so Eric passes his work on a USB thumb drive to one of his young protégés, Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto), just before he leaves.

“Be careful,” Eric adds, his ominous words leaving Peter intrigued. After staying late to crunch some numbers, Peter stumbles onto some distressing reality- the company is loaded with toxic assets and based on historical volatility is likely to go under very quickly. Peter calls his colleague Seth (Penn Badgley) to summon his boss Will Emerson (Paul Bettany), the panic slowly spreading up the chain of command- first to Will’s acerbic superior Sam Rogers (Kevin Spacey), then to Sam’s smarmy boss Jared Cohen (Simon Baker), and finally to the company CEO Tuld.

All the while, first-time writer/director J.C. Chandor keeps a taut watch on the unfurling proceedings, letting the gravity of Peter’s discovery emanate slowly up the echelons and in the process holding his audience riveted. They get even more compelling in the second half, as Tuld gives the executive order to save the very institution by selling off the firm’s entire portfolio of toxic securities to unwitting customers in the course of the very next day. “Be first. Be smart. Or cheat,” is Tuld’s motto- but as Sam ponders, at what expense?

It’s no secret what becomes of Tuld’s decision to cheat- the consequence of which we are still grappling with- and what is even more shocking is how Sam not only eventually rationalises it for the good of the company, but manages to persuade all of the white-collar traders on his floor (or whoever is left) to do likewise. The question it prompts you to think is this- how many of the Lehman employees were equally complicit in their CEO’s decision to cheat the markets, even after they knew the health of the products they were selling?

It all feels so real, and therein lies Chandor’s greatest achievement- his debut feature after more than a decade of commercials is well-steeped in Wall Street milieu, in no small measure thanks to the exposure to that world from growing up with a father who was a Merrill Lynch trader. Chandor has also assembled a top-notch cast- among them, Spacey delivers his best work in years playing the weary middle-aged top executive whose conscience has grown increasingly diminished over the years. Just as noteworthy is Irons, who shines in the role as the villain with charismatic ruthlessness. The supporting cast are equally excellent- including Demi Moore’s chief risk officer who is arrowed to take the blame for the firm’s downfall by none other than Tuld himself.

Rare is the film that gives such a lucid insight into the workings of Wall Street, and the culture of corporate greed and self-interest that ultimately devastated the lives of millions around the world. It’s also a first-class thriller, full of brooding tension and compelling ethical and moral predicaments that are ever prescient today as they were three years ago. Even if you know what went down at Wall Street back in 2008, this film and its ensemble of well-crafted characters will open your eyes to the men (and women) inside the shadowy offices of Manhattan’s spires who once held the world’s fate in their hands- and let it slip.  

Movie Rating:

(Tense and well-plotted thriller set against a spot-on Wall Street milieu that boasts top-notch performances from an ensemble cast)

Review by Gabriel Chong