Margin Call

Here it is.  The movie of the 2007 financial crises that we had to have.  There have been quite a few attempts, but none have nailed it quite like this effort from JC Chandor, the son of a Merrill Lynch banker.  It plays off in one twenty four hour period in the life of an unnamed investment bank.  A young analyst discovers that something is very wrong with the bank's mortgage portfolio.  The problem is rapidly escalated to higher levels of management, finally to the smooth British Managing Director, played by Jeremy Irons.  The excellent cast includes Demi Moore, Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany and Simon Baker.  The setting is pure downtown NYC, all glass, steel and concrete.  As someone whose day job is in this industry, I'm no stranger to keeping my head down while folks around me have been tapped on the shoulder and made redundant.  I can vouch that Margin Call has an authenticity about it that is rare in this type of movie.  It does not over glamorise working on Wall Street as many do.  It keeps in mind that at the end of the day we are looking at ordinary people grappling with moral and ethical questions, while looking out for their own survival, as we all do.