Michael Pitt could be too good looking for the role and he doesn't have the dead eyes look or the sharpness to him. Ribisi could probably pull it off.
I don't know, Michael Pitt was pretty sharp in the Hannibal tv series. He could pull this off, I think.
In keeping with the spirit of the thing, here is a collection of some of JL's quotes: http://www.azquotes.com/author/28455-Jesse_Lauriston_Livermore
Any good actor could play the role as Livermore's face is not known to the public. Nobody knows how he lost the $100 million he made from the 1929 crash. So that bit would have to be made up. The film would have to show the roller coaster rides that were Livermore's life, so the film would be a more epic version of say 'Rogue Trader' which showed the rise and blow up of Nick Leeson over about five years. Livermore has a 50 year trading story.
We do know how he lost it. There were interviews of his son and step daughter. After the SEC was created in the 1930's, they outlawed most of the tactics he used to make money. He admitted this. This is what drove him into depression. I should say deep depression because he was not yet diagnosed with likely bi-polar disorder. It was only when these laws went into place did he realize he was for the most part a fraud. A man who really made his money cheating the system. This was why he left the suicide note to his wife stating his whole life was a failure. And why he took his own life. He knew with these laws in place he would never make money again and so the purpose of his life was gone.
He made circa $100 million in 1929 ($1.5 billion in todays money). He was declared bankrupt on March 7, 1934, 3 months before the SEC was even created (June 6, 1934). No one knows for sure how he lost this money.
Well i just proved the SEC wasn't the reason he lost his 1929 money. They didnt even exist when he lost it in the early 30s and declared BK. So perhaps you can tell me how he lost it then?
He didn't say that the SEC is the reason Livermore lost his money. What he said is that rules enforced by the SEC is why Livermore couldn't bounce back the way that he'd done before. Check out this book for an in-depth look at Livermore's life.