Margin Call (2011)

Directed by J. C. Chandor. Starring Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Kevin Spacey, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Stanley Tucci, Demi Moore, Aasif Mandvi, Ashley Williams. [R]

Engrossing drama about a major Wall Street investment bank realizing that the business model of their securities portfolio is on the verge of collapse, and then deciding on the next steps, which could prove disastrous for the corporation, their employees, and the entire market. Aside from the epilogue, it all takes place in the span of about twenty-four hours, focusing on a few of the higher-ups, including the CEO (played with cunning authority by Irons), and a couple of lower-rung risk analysts, one of whom (Quinto) made the terrifying discovery based on a projections analysis developed by recently-fired Tucci. That writer/director Chandor is able to make wealthy people in suits talking at length for about two hours, mostly inside of sleek glass-and-steel buildings, so compelling is no small feat; the sharp and layered writing combined with uniformly fine performances manage to find glimmers of rationale and even humanity in the sharks as they prepare to destroy lives. Laymen will likely struggle to understand all the jargon and details (Irons tells Quinto at one point, “Speak as you might to a young child…or a golden retriever”), and the blinkered world created here allows for limited context, but that almost seems appropriate for the people responsible for a financial crisis. Mary McDonnell appears briefly in the final scene, which whiffs on its reach for pathos and metaphor.

78/100