Last night, courtesy of Netflix, I watched a remarkable film that made several Top Ten lists in 2011, Margin Call. It is riveting, despite the occasional technical jargon and a low key approach so different from two equally compelling works about the business world, the flashier Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) and Atlas Shrugged (2011). The tone is deadly serious, which is warranted given the worldwide catastrophe that would ensue. The tension and sense of dread is palpable. The wit is subtle and the dialogue first rate, avoiding the overuse of profanity. Knowledge of market terms is not essential to the understanding of the simple plot: a firm is in trouble and its brain trust must figure out how to save it. It is refreshingly even-handed. There are no evil people here. Several are cold-blooded, of course. After all, it is a high stakes, extremely competitive environment - the major leagues of finance. Viewers will probably affirm what thy already believe about capitalism, pro or con. The film would not likely change minds. It is simply high drama. I thought there were a couple of omissions that perhaps are a tell of the filmmaker's beliefs. In Jeremy Irons' character's defense of himself and his plan of action, there is no mention of the good such pencil-pushing, computer-keying wealth creation does - enormous tax revenue, for one, although a large portion of it, including his own, is about to go up in smoke. The bigger omission is that there is no mention of government involvement in the crisis, the pressure politicians put on banks to issue mortgages to the unqualified, which may have been the biggest catalyst for the financial collapse still affecting the planet at present. From what I understand, financiers realized how much potentially bad debt they faced and bundled it into securities to mitigate it and profit from it. Of course, I'm no expert in these matters. Buy a stock low, sell it high is as sophisticated as my trading philosophy gets. Despite these flaws, this is a wonderful film for adults. Kudos to screenwriter/director J C Chandor, who knocked it out of the park in his first full length feature, and to the great cast, especially Kevin Spacey, who also had the privilege of being in Glengarry Glen Ross, where he was taken apart in profane terms by Al Pacino, in direct contrast to the cold reason he is plied with by Irons. Demi Moore has never been better. Simon Baker adopts a completely different persona than he does on The Mentalist. Stanley Tucci, Paul Bettany and Zachary Quinto (Spock in the latest Star Trek) are fabulous. On a scale of five, I rate Margin Call four.
I sold ten books today, five in Russian and five in Ukrainian. It's the same alphabet. Michael said it's like talking to a guy from Texas. Spasibo, folks.
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