Just over a week ago, I was discussing films of the last decade, and why I regard certain ones as highly as I do. It’s my belief that when considering such things, one cannot simply judge the film within its borders. What goes a long way and elevates certain films into something more is the way they encapsulate the era. There’s a lot to like about a film like MARGIN CALL within its borders, but when one considers how it encapsulates this uncertain era we find ourselves in, one has to admit – the film elevates itself.

The film is set entirely within approximately 36 hours. As the story begins, a massive round of layoffs are leveled at an investment bank. One of the casualties is a senior risk analyst named Will (Stanley Tucci). Before he is escorted out of the building, he hands one of his loyal analysts a USB key and tells him to “be careful”. The project is now in the care of Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto), and as the afternoon turns into evening, he pieces together what Will had discovered:

The firm is outside its borders on acceptable risk, and could soon suffer a loss greater than its worth in shares. Such an incident would be catastrophic for the firm and its investors.

The danger of the firm’s status is quickly repeated on and on up the chain of command, until much of the most senior executives are gathered in the wee hours, trying to decide how to prevent losing their shirts.

The way the film elevates itself is multifaceted. For starters, despite the fact that the situation is a lot of financial gobbledygook, the script lays it out in a way that makes both the nuance and severity of it pretty darned clear. No easy feat! The film peppers the story with Mamet-esque quips, scenes of visual poetry, and a clear position that even though the ground is shifting under these people’s feet, some of them are still distracted by the trivial.

Such is life in these strange economic times we find ourselves in. Some smaller people lost everything as a result of events similar to what we see here. Others – highly paid others with firms such as the one in this movie – were actually rewarded for averting further calamity. It’s as if the fire chief of a city pinned a medal on the chest of a firefighter who predicted a building was going to burn down, but was still standing in a pile of rubble.

The lunacy of it all – lunacy that I’d wager actually happens – is the way the gravity of the situation is lost on some. The junior analyst is still playing guessing games with how much people make. The CEO is still dining on gourmet food while looking out over the New York skyline. At the best of times, people in the world have trouble keeping perspective. In the world of financial trading, that tendency is even worse…and that’s a chilling thought given how much of our way of life they are responsible for.

Like GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS and WALL STREET, MARGIN CALL is not strictly a “movie about money”. It is a glimpse behind he curtain, where some truly talented actors bring to life the colourful surrealism of life inside the financial circus when the bears get loose and the tent looks like it’s about to fall in.

12 Replies to “MARGIN CALL”

  1. I was considering to watch this film, but in the end I though it looked boring. But based on your review I guess I will watch it if I can.

    1. It’s very timely and has a lot of human drama. It’s less a numbers movie than it is a power grab. Watch it for the killer acting by Zach Quinto alone.

    1. It’s been said elsewhere, but perhaps the defining scene of the film is the scene in the elevator. Two executives talking *over* a custodian like she doesn’t matter…and yet their decisions are going to be felt by people like her most of all.

      Friggin’ genius.

  3. I think the strongest element of the film is the acting. Jeremy Irons, Paul Bettany, Stanley Tucci, and Zachary Quntio gives strong performances. But I would like to single out Kevin Spacey as the actor/character who is the soul of the film. This is not a typical Spacey performance, he plays a sales manager, who knows what he is going to do is wrong, but he is either too weak or he has this blind loyalty that he can’t quite go against the company. The speech he gives in the end is akin to a speech given by generals in a war movie, but there is a poignancy to it. It’s a tremendous performance by an actor who has been in autopilot for the last 5 years, showing us he can still do it given good material.

    1. I really do wish Spacey could do more like this. I loved atching him be different things to different people – a big shot to the underlings, a loyal soldier to the higher-ups, defiant when his professional integrity is being challenged.

      Here’s hoping that this can stir something in him and bring him back to us in a way…the world needs more Lester Burnham.

  4. The script and the performance are what really surprised me about this film. Spacey and Irons, heck the majority of the cast for that matter, are really in fine form. I was really happy to see J.C. Chandor get a nomination for the script. If nothing else, it will lead more people to see this little gem of a film.

    1. Like A BETTER LIFE which I wrote about on Monday, it’s likely that I wouldn’t have caught up with this movie for a good while longer had it not been for its Oscar nomination.

      The overblown round of rich white folk congratulating themselves is good for something after all!

  6. Fantastic review, Ryan. I think the fireman example really works, and I liked how you brought up the idea of lunacy and how it circuits itself throughout the film with the lack of perspective some of the characters hold.

    I really enjoyed Margin Call. Glad to have seen it. Excellent work, in my opinion.

    1. As I just mentioned to Candice, the scene in the elevator probably encapsulates the whole caper and its ripple effect the best.

      I must apologize: I’ve started a comment on your own review of the film three times but been interrupted at every turn. Expect a note on it soon, and thanks for reading!

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