The story behind this biography-drama-thriller is the only thing that kept me interested. It was well written to play out over such a short period of time.Where it fell short for me was assembling such a great A-list cast that seemed they were forced to play their roles. I felt that not one of these A-listers where passionate enough in their character, and all seemed rather stale. The only exception (and not by a large margin), was Jeremy Irons, who was the only convincing character in this film.The pace was very slow, and perhaps adding an appropriate score may have made it feel faster, as it felt there was just too much blank/boring time in between scenes.So it's a 7/10 mainly for the interesting writing.

There is no story in the movie. One day you realize the firm is bankrupt, and you find a way to save it by getting rid of your people. Absolutely stupid! You are leveraged to the bone and you sell your portfolio at an average price of 80% and you survive? Some one needs to learn us all how this miracle happens. I have seen absurd in a movie, but this film is for people who can not even count. What was the point of bringing back the fired risk manager to work? Why was the guy losing his job crying in the toilet? On this exact day, if only this one firm was selling there was a far easier approach. It seems that no one knew about the problem, so it would have been easier for them to sell the firm which has much lower market cap than their highly leveraged portfolio of low volume mortgage bonds.Totally ridiculous crap without any point in the movie. What were they saving and how? I can not believe some one can spend so much money on cast, but did not hire one university student to explain them some basic financial stuff. In conclusion what we have learned from this movie? 1. If your company is bankrupt and you have lost all your money, fire everyone and you will not lose your already lost money ( what an absurd)2. If you have a leveraged firm and you have to sell it. Try to sell the assets not the equity. It is way easier( at least the film says so)3. If you have the brain of building rockets for NASA, you take it very emotional not to get fired from the only firm you can work for.4. I can continue to 100, but this movie does not deserve more than this.

I had read good reviews of this film, and combined with the subject matter which interested me, I was expecting to enjoy it a lot. To be honest I was a little disappointed. The whole thing just came off as rather flat and "bloodless" to me. I guess "bloodless" is perhaps what the movie makers were going for in a sense -- depicting the rather cold-blooded reality of a big financial corporation on Wall street. I just could not especially get excited by the action of a bunch of people in suits grimly talking about what they seemed to all see as a foregone conclusion, the moves they would have to make, etc. That said, I do feel that the film has an important message at least: through so clearly depicting the utterly immoral (or better, should I say "Amoral"- a world that where it seems "morality" is not even as something real), the utterly non-moral world of Finance Capitalism. A bunch of people trying to make money because they just believe that is the only thing there is to do.

A Small Film about a Big Problem. It offers an Exceptional Cast, a Minimalist Approach, and a Necessary Account of a Snapshot of "The Day Before", not Unlike the Nuclear Disaster Movie "The Day After" (1983).Not that the Day After this Real-Life Event is any Less Disastrous. Going on a Decade after the Financial Meltdown of the World's Economy the Repercussions are still being Felt and it Feels Like Nothing has really been Done to Avoid Another such Catastrophe. Because Nothing has been Done.It's Business as Usual and the "Crimes Against Humanity" have not only gone Unpunished, it has been Rewarded Substantially. Sure some Fines have been Paid (pocket change), but No Jail Time and the Wall Street Practices that caused the World so much Pain, have Not Changed.This is a Sobering Film about "People" Drunk on "The Root of all Evil", (The Love of Money). It tries to Humanize but these Types have abandon any sense of Humanity long ago. Kevin Spacey's Character is the Only One that has any Love Left in His Heart for Anything with a Heartbeat (A Dog). The Violence in the Movie is Bloodless, the Victim's of the Bloodshed unleashed by these "Suits" are the Nameless Masses Off-Screen and Out of Sight. The Story is a Nightmare. The Script says "It all feels like a dream" and someone answers..."I feel like I'm waking up", but has He, well No. It wasn't a Dream and there are Real People Suffering. That's something that these Types Refuse to take Responsibility. So the Real-Life Nightmare is not about to End anytime Soon.Overall, a Chilling Film and well Worth a Watch.