THE PLOT THUS FAR
Set in the high-stakes world of Wall Street, MARGIN CALL is an entangling thriller involving the key players at an investment firm d uring the earliest hours of the 2008 financial crisis. When an entry-level analyst unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm, a roller-coaster ride ensues as the firm’s employees must weigh whether to save their own company (and their jobs) at the risk of fleecing millions of investors.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
And so goes the tale of an unnamed financial brokerage that, thanks to the analysis of a young trader played by “Star Trek” and “Heroes” star Zachary Quinto, realizes that the Mortgage Backed Securities that it is holding has placed it in a precarious position that is close to, if not already, underwater. The storm unravels in a single 24 hour-plus period, and the outcome, well, we can just look at the real world markets to see the outcome.
What’s really fascinating to watch here is the interests and motivations of the individuals, because as much as this is a character piece, it’s also an essay on the pitfalls of short term motivation. People who know too much are paid a million dollars to sit quietly in a room for a day and not talk. Traders are offered a bonus of $1.4M to meet a personal quota to sell assets they know are junk, with an additional $1.3M per person if the whole floor hits quota. An executive loses 60% of his team, and cries because his dog is dying, yet never thinks to call his son (also implied to be in finance) to share the news of the pending crash. Execs view what they’re doing as the inevitable ebb and flow of the tide, waxing about the constant distribution of wealthy and poor, how the numbers will never change, and how the fallout is ultimately yet another opportunity to buy low soon and sell high later.
The movie works solely from inside the nameless firm – apart from minor steps outside. It only portraits the people working inside this company – the “normal world” is completely left out. The effect is a very clever one: The life of these bankers seems totally severed from the outside world, they have no real connection with normal people and seem to – speaking exaggeratingly – lack an understanding of real human values, that there could be more behind life than just maximizing and making money. They are completely left behind in their own world, which somehow got out of control. Even when the imminent truth reveals and the consequences are becoming more clearer, it always feels like they are cut off; there is a scene in a taxi with Quinto and Badgley that underlines this.
But one can also witness the cold-blooded atmosphere in the system itself, where every person could easily be mistaken as a number. A key figure of the film, Eric Dale, who gets sacked in the beginning, is confronted with two managers in a scene like from “Up In The Air”. Either are these women robots or have never experienced something like social warmth. One widely held position is that eventually bankers themselves didn’t understand their own system and products with Derivatives and Futures, etc. anymore. Almost hilarious, but sadly true is the fact that many people in these companies seem to have no understanding of Economics and just got into their position due to influence or money. When they are sitting in their conference room and discuss the incident, it feels somewhat grotesque.
The DVD comes with a commentary, featurettes and outtakes. The A/V Quality is strong enough without much digital noise. However, the Dolby 5.1 track is poorly mixed and often has no audio in the back channels. I’ll usually give dramas a pass on this front, but it was just so noticeable. In the end, I’d recommend a rental.
RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!
