Margin Call
Investment-firm analyst Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) uncovers sensitive information that could easily plunge the entire business into peril, inadvertently destroying the lives and careers of his colleagues in this tense thriller set during the onset of the 2008 financial crisis. Over the course of the next 24 hours, Sullivan realizes that the decisions he makes will not only affect the employees of the firm, but the lives of everyday Americans from coast to coast as well. Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Stanley Tucci, Demi Moore, and Paul Bettany co-star.
Director: J.C. Chandor
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Paul Bettany, Penn Badgley, Zachary Quinto
You could describe Margin Call as a thriller (it's wired with suspense), yet the tension all comes from words.
This confident, crisply made piece of work does an expert job of bringing us inside the inner sanctum of a top Wall Street investment bank in extremis, giving us a convincing and coolly dramatic portrait of what it must have been like when titans trembled.
As such, it's chilling and enjoyable in unequal measure. Entertainment predominates, but entertainment with smarts, and a well-honed edge.
Margin Call's strengths are of mood and the slick surfaces of things, and these elements are haunting long after the credits have rolled.
Margin Call is an explosive drama that speaks lucidly and scarily to the times we live in.
Best Writing, Original Screenplay
Academy Awards (2012)
Best Screenplay
Australian Film Institute (2012)
J.C. Chandor
Berlin International Film Festival (2011)
Best New Filmmaker
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards (2011)
Outstanding Achievement in Casting - Feature - Studio or Independent Drama
Casting Society of America (2012)