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Margin Call, Movie

Margin Call 2011

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Boardroom thriller following the employees of a large New York investment bank over the opening 24 hours of the 2008 financial crisis. All-star cast includes Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, Paul Bettany. More

"When entry-level analyst Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm, a roller-coaster ride ensues as decisions both financial and moral catapult the lives of all involved to the brink of disaster... an examination of the human components of a subject too often relegated to partisan issues of black and white. A portrayal of the financial industry and its denizens as they confront the decisions that shape our global future." (Sundance Film Festival 2011) Hide

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146 votes / 16 comments The Talk

  • 49 %

    Want to See it

    What say you?

    • Fiona

      Great cast, Amazing plot.

    • SFL

      Looks pretty amazing!

    • curls40

      this looks like must see movie viewing

    • Joan

      Can't wait!

    • BrionyJae

      Do we know when/if this is going to be released in cinemas here? It looks amazing! :D

    • Karl-Flicks

      @BrionyJae, Sorry, we haven't got a release date for this yet. We'll update this page as soon as we get the info.

    • BrionyJae

      That's okay, I'll definitely keep checking back :)

    • sam

      cant wait!

    • Jen

      Oh Yes....must seee

    • Sandya

      Can't wait. Was recommended by former PM Helen Clark on FB!

    • Duncan

      does anyone know who the NZ distributor is?

    • Don

      Pinnacle Film is distributing in NZ

    • ricki meadke

      this flick looks awSUM! fakkk!

    • Kamera

      Kind of a weird film. I thougt it'd be total suspense, but it was pretty slow moving. Still enjoyed it. Felt like a debut director.

    • Stew

      Riveting so understated, Kevin spacey and Jeremy irons, class acts!

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Flicks.co.nz Review

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  • Hamhanded

    I can understand why this film was hidden, in limited release... Why was this movie hidden from the public? Too much truthyness?

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Matt Glasby Flicks Writer

The title of writer-director JC Chandor’s dizzying debut refers to the moment when all debts must be repaid – the day of reckoning. And boy does he deliver. At an unnamed Wall Street firm (Lehman Brothers!), recently fired risk manager Stanley Tucci gives young buck Zachary Quinto (Spock in Star Trek) a file that will, ultimately, start the 2007 recession. So begins a financial forest fire that, over the course of one long, over-caffeinated night, engulfs the entire company and – as we now know – world. More

Part of Chandor’s genius (or extreme good fortune) is that each new level of the corporation is overseen by a brilliant actor who’s correspondingly higher up the Hollywood pecking order than the last. So Quinto reports to Paul Bettany, who reports to Kevin Spacey, who reports to Jeremy Irons, each more compromised – or corrupt – than their inferiors. “You and I can’t control it, or stop it, even slow it,” says Irons urbanely as he sells a million futures down the river with a lupine smile. “We just react. And we make a lot of money if we get it right.”

It’s a brutal world (“Still alive?” the execs keep asking each other), brilliantly evoked by one of the most impressive casts assembled in recent memory (Simon 'The Mentalist' Baker is particularly chilling). But this is Chandor’s triumph, and marks him out as someone to keep an eye on in the future. Let’s hope he’s never handed such an all-pervading human horror story again. Hide

The People's Reviews

Rating:

5 ratings and 6 reviews

All reviews (6)

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  • Sarah29

    I hope you aren't promoting illegal downloading because I am pretty sure Margin Call isn't available for download yet in NZ

  • BrionyJae

    I actually watched this film and wrote this review last year! Don't worry, it was all legal, I have a brilliant overseas friend! :)

  • BrionyJae

    And now that it's finally out, I can't wait to head along to the cinemas to see it on the big screen - can't pass up THAT experience! :)

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Admirable Acting

BrionyJae Flicks Superstar (?)

So, I got too keen to see this movie to wait for it to be released in the cinemas here, so I watched it online. And man, I'm glad I did!

I don't actually know a lot about the financial issues this film gets into - but I found that this didn't matter at all when watching Margin Call. I was already a massive fan of Zachary Quinto and Jeremy Irons, and they were both absolutely wonderful and convincing. However, one of the more involved performances was probably that of Kevin Spacey - and he was just brilliant. He really captured the desperate but resigned emotion running throughout the entire film.

While I might have been able to appreciate the film better if I DID know more about finances, I can confidently say that the film was just as brilliant for me, as what we need to know is basically described in the film anyway. The superb acting made this independent film completely worth it - I definitely recommend it :)

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Seriously Good

Sarah29 Flicks Superstar (?)

Margin Call is a really REALLY good. I don't know I was expecting when I saw this, but I can honestly say that even after seeing it a few days ago, I am still thinking about it. The acting was superb, there was not a bad performance in the bunch and Kevin Spacey as the finance big wig plagued by a moral dilemma and Zachary Quinto as the young and shy genius whiz-kid, were both highlights for me. The film's director, J. C. Chandor, does a fantastic job of building tension and suspense. This film is a must see for anyone who enjoys smart and thoughtful movies.

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Absolutely riveting

Weds_Loafers Flicks Superstar (?)

Today 6 of us went to "Margin Call", an absolutely fascinating movie seemingly based on the internal workings of Lehman Brothers the night before global markets crashed in 2008.
This is a highly entertaining, riveting drama and we probably should have asked John Key to join us for his comments based on his former life at Merrill Lynch.
However, it seemed highly plausible to us and the acting is superb. A slightly annoying start with a cello almost drowning out the dialogue but after that it is a gripping roller-coaster ride with the entire screenplay encompassing a period of about 36 hours. No romantic interest and only one key female actor but a group of 5 women in front of us seemed to enjoy it as much as we did.
4.5 stars

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Unmissable, as they say!

Brian1 Flicks Superstar (?)

Captivating from start to finish, even though probably a little over-dramatisation of the the actual story.

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Worth a trip to the flicks!

Wice Flicks Superstar (?)

No sex, no violence, not even a gun in sight even though this movie is set in New York! Instead a convincing portrayal of not just the events but the emotions of the 2008 financial crisis. Well work a trip to the 'flicks'.

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Solid 4 Stars

Moose B-Grader (?)

Thoroughly enjoyable! I had just watched Inside Job a few days before seeing Margin Call, and it was cool to see a dramatized portrayal already having some insights into what sparked the whole global financial crises. Jeremy Irons is awesome, as usual. Great showing of the corporate world, business structures and management etc. A solid 4 stars and would definitely recommend. If I had to be picky the only two negatives for me were real trainspotting issues...1) late at night when they show the stock brokers room full of computers with generic "sharemarket graphs and forecasts and figures ect" on the screens I thought..."yeah right, as if they don't have screen locks and sceensavers"...lol....and 2. a couple of times it was obvious the movie makers were trying to illustrate the salaries tha the Wall St big wigs were earning, and did this in quite a contrived way with a thread of "discussions" between the youngest characters aboutt "what they earned and what they thought their bosses earned". Apart from those minor things, which both made me smile wryly and made me feel superior about my amazingly analytical film critiqueing ability...this movie is a very good watch, and I recommend watching Inside Job too, both movies sit well together.

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Press Reviews

A.V. Club (USA)

If nothing else, Margin Call serves as a rebuke to "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" emphatic style - which ultimately glamorizes the profession it means to shame - and brings this dangerous numbers game back to the trading-floor desktops and mahogany-covered conference tables where it belongs. It isn't sexy, but the stakes feel much higher. Full review.

Empire (UK)

Chock-full of terrific performances, Margin Call is the kind of gripping, grown-up film that these days is usually found on the small screen. Full review.

Guardian (UK)

Spacey is watchable as the veteran trading boss, in a state of near-breakdown, who discovers all too late that he has a kind of conscience. Full review.

Hollywood Reporter

The first-rate cast cannot be faulted. Chandor has assembled an extraordinary ensemble. Full review.

New York Times

The accomplishment of this movie is that it allows you to sympathize with them, to acknowledge the reality of their predicament, without letting them off the hook or forgetting the damage they did. Full review.

Rolling Stone (USA)

Margin Call is an explosive drama that speaks lucidly and scarily to the times we live in. Full review.

Time (USA)

Margin Call is smart, but too cool and solemn to raise anyone's temperature. Nonetheless, writer/director J. C. Chandor should count himself the luckiest man in show business this weekend. How many first-time feature filmmakers can truthfully claim that their movie collided right up against the zeitgeist? Full review.

Time Out New York

Escalation is the main thing Margin Call has going for it, as more substantial actors are trotted out to have their way with Chandor's realistic-sounding boardroom dialogue. Full review.