Margin Call (2011).
“It’s just money; it’s all made up.”
Directed by J.C. Chandor
Written by J.C. Chandor
Starring Kevin Spacey, Zachary Quinto, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Simon Baker, Demi Moore, and Stanley Tucci
The Stage.
Margin Call focuses on the Risk Management floor of an unnamed (coughgoldmansachscough) finance firm on the eve of the 2008 financial crisis. After a low-level analyst is passed some troubling numbers, the firm scrambles to ration with and ultimately sell off it’s debt in order to stay afloat.
The Review.
Watching this astounded me that it was J.C. Chandor’s first film. Everything about it screams “veteran work”. The script is tight and interesting, despite the fact that I could not care less about Wall Street. This isn’t a film that’s going to try to get you to feel emotion for the Wall Street suits, but it will try to make you understand why they do what they do. In the end, it’s easy to understand - greed - and it makes no attempt to disguise that.
The cast is just a bombshell of an ensemble and everyone knocks their performance out of the park. The subtleties and the details really make an impact as you learn what people have given up for the life that they’ve chosen…and while you might not feel bad for them, they do feel like fully formed characters. Unlike some Wall Street style movies, the characters here work in a gray area with people who actually have morals (to a degree) and want to do what’s right, but unfortunately, most of the time it’s what’s right for the firm and not what’s right for the greater good.
The high point of Margin Call happens in a board room with the head of the firm, John Tuld (played masterfully by Jeremy Irons), trying to understand why he’s there at 3:30am. Almost every supporting cast member is there and it provides a sense of tension that I didn’t expect. It also provides some great quotes from Tuld as he tries to shove the bullshit out of the way to grasp the implications of the situation.
The film ends on a pitch perfect note - no music, just the sound of a hole being dug, a fitting metaphor for the entire series of events that led up to that day.
It’s odd watching a film in 2021 that features Kevin Spacey in a role that’s written to seem sympathetic. His character Sam Rogers seems to care about the people on his floor. Our first glimpse of him here is an emotional scene that takes place directly after we find out that his dog is dying. In a move that’s a bit different from what you might find in typical “financial thrillers”, he actually seems broken up about it. The man has a heart, even if it’s layered under piles of cash. He seems to want what’s best for his people and their careers. Yet I found myself struggling to feel for his character, knowing who Kevin Spacey is now.
The ugliest thing here is just thinking about the world that we live in. There’s a great quote that Paul Bettany’s character Will says that really stuck with me. “The only reason that (normal people) all get to continue living like kings is cause we got our fingers on the scales in their favor. I take my hand off and then the whole world gets really fuckin' fair really fuckin' quickly and nobody actually wants that. They say they do but they don't. They want what we have to give them but they also wanna, you know, play innocent and pretend they have no idea where it came from.”
The End.
Margin Call is a fast paced look at the precipice of the 2008 financial collapse. It brings together the cutthroat lifestyle that films like Wall Street portray with the intelligence and characters reminiscent of Glengarry Glen Ross. It’s slick, well made, and an enjoyable watch. I highly recommend it.
