Margin Call, 2011.
Directed by J.C. Chandor.
Starring Kevin Spacey, Zachary Quinto, Jeremy Irons, Paul Bettany and Stanley Tucci.
SYNOPSIS:
After being retrenched, Eric Dale (Stanley Tucci) gives his research to his protege Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) to complete. All signs point to an impending (nigh inevitable) global financial crisis and Margin Call follows the reactions of his investment bank employers over a 24-hour period.
Debut feature film writer-director J.C Chandor has put himself on the map with a tense and tight insight into the frighteningly passive attitudes of those responsible for tipping the free market into financial turmoil. Chandor does an accomplished job of framing the industry and establishing the cut-throat context of the environment. His direction evokes a vibrant and thriving city that surrounds the vacuum of empty board rooms in the firm. Chandor doesn’t present the heads of this corporation with simplistic maniacal characterisations (even though I couldn’t seem to get Scar from The Lion King out of my head every time Jeremy Irons spoke). He presents characters to be judged with a succinct subtlety that asks profound questions of the industry and how it mutates the men and woman in the positions of power.
One of the most powerful elements of the film was watching how what essentially are ‘salesmen’ putting themselves in positions of near immeasurable power without having a fundamental understanding of how they’re leveraging the stock that they trade every day. David Simon (creator of The Wire) once said that its tales of middle management that tell the most interesting stories, namely because they’ve got the know how to change things without any of the power. Margin Call positions us alongside the ‘middle management’ as they discover the issue and watch the powerful people in charge intentionally tearing the market down for self preservation.
This story and setting relies heavily on economical and resonant performances from all involved so that you can actually invest (no pun intended) in the characters that are being portrayed. Two scenes that I’d like to address involve Sam Rogers – Kevin Spacey’s character. The first; where he addresses the remaining employees in the wake of the round of forced redundancies, sees him striking up a series of applause to attempt to maintain morale and control of the remaining staff as he looks to find the silver lining. The second contrasts his character’s almost cavalier approach to ritualist sackings as he’s dealing with the grief of his elderly dog slowly passing away. This dichotomy really gives you a powerful insight into the industry’s ability to cultivate apathy and distance their work and personal selves.
Stanley Tucci is a chameleon, who I’d place alongside the likes of Gary Oldman. During his limited screen time he’s able to provide the humanity to the picture that the executives are clearly devoid of. Zachary Quinto is great as the idealistic and naive Sullivan, who becomes aware of the situation in the wake of his boss’ sacking. His fierce intelligence and pragmatic approach doesn’t sit well with his employers as they’re slithering out of the position that they’ve maneuvered themselves into. Jeremy Irons and Simon Baker portray their particularly callous characters very well in this film while Demi Moore’s arc as the icy Mary Rogers sees her quickly realise the den of foxes that form her management team before breaking down when faced with the prospect that this will be her responsibility.
Margin Call is a tightly scripted, intensely acted and skillfully directed character piece that illuminates the depths of moral and ethical corruption at the epicenter of Western capitalist society.
Flickering Myth Rating: Film ** / Movie ****
Blake Howard is a writer/site director/podcaster at the castleco-op.com. Follow him on Twitter here:@blakeisbatman.
Originally published March 31, 2012. Updated November 6, 2019.
