X
- 2011
- R
- Lionsgate Films
- 1 h 47 m
- 2011
- R
- Lionsgate Films
- 1 h 47 m
Summary This tense Wall Street thriller follows the staff of a high-powered brokerage firm in the 24 hours before the stock market crash of 2008. Featuring an all-star cast, Margin Call was one of the most talked about films of the Sundance Film Festival and was also the Opening Night selection of New Directors/New Films. (Roadside Attractions)
Directed By: J.C. Chandor
Written By: J.C. Chandor
- 2011
- R
- Lionsgate Films
- 1 h 47 m
- 2011
- R
- Lionsgate Films
- 1 h 47 m
Margin Call
76
7.1
Where to Watch
Summary This tense Wall Street thriller follows the staff of a high-powered brokerage firm in the 24 hours before the stock market crash of 2008. Featuring an all-star cast, Margin Call was one of the most talked about films of the Sundance Film Festival and was also the Opening Night selection of New Directors/New Films. (Roadside Attractions)
Directed By: J.C. Chandor
Written By: J.C. Chandor
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 38 Critic Reviews
76
84% Positive
32 Reviews
32 Reviews
13% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
3% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 38 Critic Reviews
76
84% Positive
32 Reviews
32 Reviews
13% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
3% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Chandor's shrewdest bit of business is figuring out how to make an A-list movie with a $3.5-million budget. Solution: buy low, sell high. Hire last decade's A-list – Spacey, Irons and Demi Moore – and give them their best parts in years.
Chandor's film goes a long way toward making understandable - in vivid, cinematic terms - what exactly happened to make that first big domino fall over.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 184 User Ratings
7.1
73% Positive
135 Ratings
135 Ratings
18% Mixed
33 Ratings
33 Ratings
9% Negative
16 Ratings
16 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 184 User Ratings
7.1
73% Positive
135 Ratings
135 Ratings
18% Mixed
33 Ratings
33 Ratings
9% Negative
16 Ratings
16 Ratings
Margin Call is a Masterpiece. Firstly because it is by far the most realistic film ever made about business in general and finance especially, even topping now number two Oliver Stone's Wall Street. Secondly, the cast is impeccable. Irons, Baker, Moore, Spacey, Bettany, Tucci and Quinto are at their finest hour. And thirdly, from the very first minute until the end, Chandor creates this heavy, dark and oppressing atmosphere that puts you emotionally and nervously on the trading seat.
Report
This was very close to being the perfect movie. It was a great story, it was based on the reality of the world around us, the dialog was authentic, and the actors were brilliant. What more can the critics ask for? It just shows how powerful film can really be--without violence, without special effects, and without sex. Of course, the f-word was a special guest star, but unfortunately that is how the prostitute-addicted, drinking, lying robots on Wall Street really talk. The plot centers on a company that is basically a nonentity--there is no real product, no real service to humanity. These companies are merely parasites on our society whose function is to move money around, while their people get paid astronomical salaries for being a lot like Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz--they prance around singing, "if I only had a brainâ
Report
As such, it's chilling and enjoyable in unequal measure. Entertainment predominates, but entertainment with smarts, and a well-honed edge.
Spacey does his best work since "American Beauty'' as a tired middle-aged corporate warrior whose greatest compassion, in the end, is reserved for an ailing dog he has to put to sleep.
This compelling-acted film explains, better than any soundbite, why people have taken to the streets, "occupying" centers of finance. If their rage is unfocused, Margin Call suggests, that's with good reason. There are no real heroes or villains here, just human beings with human failings making BIG human mistakes.
A portrait of the eve of 2008's financial crisis that plays out with
funereal inevitability, Margin Call loves speechifying, but the film is far
more assured when lingering in the silence of its morally compromised
characters.
As a movie, it's so tightly framed you gasp from claustrophobia. As a film of cryptic boredom, I cannot believe the actors were able to say their lines without cue cards.
This is one of those movies where everyone calls flawless but I think it's well done on a acting and directing point of view, but I do think it's a bit overrated in my opinion.
The story to Margin Call takes place in 2008 as a tense action as we follow one 24-hour period at an investment bank just before the financial crisis hits.
Margin Call is a movie that I thought was alright. I do think the movie is well acted and nicely written, but to me the movie is a slow burn and I just don't think it's brilliant as people thought it was. It's not a bad film but I don't think it's a great film, just alright in my opinion.
Report
Margin Call is more like Shark thriller than financial meltdown movie. What'd you expect from movie about people who 'trapped' all night fighting the beginning of crisis? Powerful script, act and direction.
Report
This film is boring from beginning to end. It's not even a particularly good depiction of the greed behind the mortgage crisis. The harm done to ordinary folks is totally absent.
Report
Production Company
Before The Door Pictures,
Benaroya Pictures,
Washington Square Films,
Untitled Entertainment,
Bow Street Films
Release Date Oct 21, 2011
Duration 1 h 47 m
Rating R
Tagline Be first. Be smarter. Or cheat.
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
Film Independent Spirit Awards
• 2 Wins & 3 Nominations
AACTA International Awards
• 1 Win & 3 Nominations
