Margin Call

A decent film portraying just how easily the financial crash in 2008 occurred. A bit slow to get going, but it generally kept you interested (although there were plenty of times to nip out and put the kettle on, not feeling you’d missed much)! Kevin Spacey was great but I wouldn’t recommend to anyone really. Better films out there - like “Searching” which is simply fabulous!

A brilliant drama with excellent acting all round, in particular from Kevin Spacey. I just love the way the movie commences with a depiction of Spacey being a spoilt banker, only interested in his sick dog rather than the mass culling of staff in his office. As the movie progresses, we realise he is a human working in the inhuman world of capitalism. By the end of the movie, as he buries his dog on the lawn of his ex, we almost salute him. An informative movie too, a good intro to the Financial Crisis.

An informative film on the background goings on. A good companion film to The Big Short which, if watched first, might make Margin Call a bit easier to follow.

The film is a good depictation of the ‘dog-eat-dog’ world of private sector financial organisations during the 2008 crisis. The attitude displayed by characters (with a mere glimpse of remorse almost hidden by self absorption) is glamour-fied but disappointedly true to life. The film does not do a great job explaining to people (without intense listening) what the firm is doing and the consequence of that action to both staff and economy - which is why the message and despicable behaviour is somewhat missed by casual viewers. The depth of the characters was also fairly shallow but considering the topic covered it was never going to be deep as the obsession with money and greed is never that deep an emotion. Well worth a watch if you are interested in the subject or have been involved/affected during the 2008 crisis. Kevin Spacey does not flex his acting muscles too much but rousing speeches still the show as Jeremy Irons seems to struggle somewhat with the part of Top Dog.

Definitely one for the discerning viewer. A taut well crafted script with economical skilled acting and simple monochrome sets pack a powerful punch. Is it an indictment of the banks' behaviour pre-crash? No . Does it judge or does it comment on the morals of the financial world? Not really. I think it lays out the stark reality of that world and leaves the viewer to decide. There is no neat cliched ending. But it is a damned good thriller.

An interesting enough subject matter with an impressive cast, but none of them are ever given the opportunity to explain precisely what’s going on for the layman. The lack of pacing & low production value sadly make this a bore to watch.

I didn't know what to expect when I purchased this movie but thought the plot was interesting and it had a strong cast. Well I was not disappointed and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was half hoping that the company folded but never expected it would. Not a classic but watchable

They’ve tried really hard to make drama out of this but just made a bunch of tosh. So many ridiculous scenes that are a million miles from reality. Irons is like some fantasy villain, which is quite risible. And the crow-bar ‘but-he-is-a-good-guy-really’ stuff with Spacey’s dog, please spare us - I’m still choking on vomit. Even if you know nothing about finance and don’t care to know, it’s still a pretty hammy drama. There is one amazing thing about this film, and that is that they made it with all these big names with a debut director for $3m.

An absolutely great movie. Good screenplay. Shows emotions such as despair... Piece of art. You watch it in one breath.

I am really into this financial meltdown and causes of it so this movie got me interested but even though rental is only £1.99, I genuinely feel this was waste of time & money. Many things I can point out like unnecessary characters (e.g.that loser 23 year old guy in the movie - not needed at all. that character doesn’t add value to the story. He is completely insignificant) Dialogues are written in a way to make it sound mind boggling, scary using irrelevant analogies (for e.g. bridge analogy, miles of drive saved). Movie has no real substance (I know its real life story), everything is just so rushed, unfinished.