While in University, studying Business Studies my least favorite subjects were the ones related to Finance. Not because I couldn’t handle the math (I actually really enjoy Math) but because I found it so utterly mind numbing and boring way beyond regular boringness. I eventually graduated with a major in Marketing – the route with the least amount of Finance Courses….but funnily enough my first proper job was to advertise a Finance Site. And even today anything related to the Industry holds a strange fascination with me – not the least because I barely get what it is all about. But what I do get is that some very few people get an enormous amount of money for simply shifting others people money around.
When the last financial crisis started a lot of close friends were directly affected – especially the ones who were working at Lehman Brothers. Over the past 3 years it became clear that the reason Lehman Brothers crashed and so many more banks all the sudden needed money from the state was because they bought shares based on mortgages that again were based on fairytale house prices. In order to explain how all this started – go watch “Margin Call”. This amazing little movie not only manages to somehow explain what went wrong but also how recklessly those people in the top floors went about this whole business.
It is quite telling that at each level the boss tells his team members that he actually doesn’t have a clue what they are doing and needs proper explanation. The film starts with Eric Dale (Stanley Tucci) getting the boot but his team members Seth (Penn Badgley) and Peter (Zachary Quinto) stay on lead by a very nervous Will (Paul Bettany). Eric was working on something big but is not allowed to finish it so he hands the USB Stick to Peter who quickly puts the puzzle together realizing that something really bad is about to happen – in short the company holds shares that are worthless but that they bought for more than what the whole company is worth. Within one night this problem gets elevated first to Wills Boss Sam (Kevin Spacey) who quickly hands it up to Jared (Simon Baker) who in return argues with the math genies in the company (a totally unconvincing Demi Moore) who finally hand the problem to the head of the firm: John Tuld played by the ever amazing Jeremy Irons. And with each step up the people in charge know less and less about what the company actually does in its core.
Since most scenes take place in board rooms the whole movie feels more like a play than a film. The class and talent of the actors on display elevates this to additional hights – maybe apart from Demi Moore. But even TV-Starlet Penn Badgley who already gave a great performance in Easy A can held himself well against acting royalty like Jeremy Irons, Paul Bettany and (in my opinion) Stanley Tucci.
What makes this movie a real thriller is the easiness with what those seemingly nice people lead others knowingly into devastation just to get a decent deal out of it – and that this easiness is so true in real life. After seeing this movie it got me really thinking about the world we live in and it wasn’t a pretty thought. And by the looks of what is happening now, it doesn’t seem to me anybody has learned anything out of what happened in 2008.
So if you are interested in finding out what happened to our financial markets and why they are in the state they are in or if you simply want to see Class-A acting on-screen with a compelling story go watch “Margin Call”!
Here’s to hoping we somehow make it out of this mess!
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