Margin call was an AWESOME movie. It not suppose to be entertaining since it was based on a true story.
Well then it failed on that basis (true story). I liked the movie, but the central plot (uncovering the risk hole) was preposterous.
Agree 100% with the characterization of both. Wall Street 2 was pure crap and Margin Call was disappointing. The weak link is always script. Good actors are out there in droves yet good writing always seems in short supply.
Something must be wrong with me because I watched the movie 3 times. You'll probably got a different version
Yeah, it was like they just stumbled upon the concept of VaR. I'm sure most bb i-banks have never heard of this enigma.
You simply need to suspend disbelief during the first half-hour. That the entire firm would have no clue where their sheet is stressed... vol-shift; DVO1>>>armageddon. If legit, they would know their marks to the day. They tried to compensate when Demi Moore (paraphrasing) stated "I warned you last year" which was weak. Then why the super-secret work by Tucci the risk guy, like he was working on the Manhattan project. So dumb. It would have been a simple matter to write a believable plot as it WAS reality. I loved the dialogue that was ancillary, but wtf, start with a PLOT. But yeah, something is wrong with you. Who knew?
Don't think of being in the movie biz. Because if you think that true stories -- and this one was damn loose about the truth -- are not supposed to entertain than what will you do for an audience? You want only historians to attend? Weak damn movie.
A couple of guys on here are actively on desks; one of them was the head of a desk that now works on the buy-side. They all liked the movie as it was a character study. In that aspect it wins, but it's a house built on mud with that plot.