My mood was ambivalent after this movie, I felt bad for the character even he is a criminal. The feeling is only towards to the movie character basic on the plot, not to the real Bernie Madoff. Anyway, I knew nothing about this former financier, except the legend of the oldest supermodel, Carmen Dell' Orefice, she was a victim I heard, and been forced to go back stage in old age because all her money invested into Bernie's programs.I feel sorry, but not really in a strong compassion, I am not heartless, but I can't have an empathy with something I never been though. Just like newspapers have countless bad news everyday, people feel sad about those news, but we move on and turn to another page afterward. It was difficult to shed my tears of compassion for them, especially in age ago.Besides, as a sapiosexual, I can't avoid being attracted to a high intelligence character, even he is criminal. Playing with $65 billions, I just want to ask the same question as the New York Times journalism as, how could he sleep with that giant Ponzi scheme? A lie needs more lies to complete, giving a lie requires facial expressions control, logical thinking ability, and prognosis ability, that is why lying is so difficult, and lies from kids are easy to nail because their cognize and emotion are so limited. It was simply fascinating and attractive to watch this story based on the plot. He was genius no doubt, but sadly not used in right way.

Great cast horrible screen play. I stayed pretty current on the Bernie Madoff disaster, this movie ignored all the facts and the real personalities. Bernie Madoff was and is a complete assh*le, he was a megalomaniac that had absolutely no regrets about destroying the financial well being of thousands of people. His children are dead now, one a suicide one died of cancer and they showed much more remorse than this ass showed. How could the makers of this movie totally ignore all the information that showed how arrogant Madoff is? I guess they were worried no one would like a movie about the real ass Madoff is.

You may ask why so many TV treatments of the Madoff affair. But the story is so colossal a tragedy that it is fascinating to watch even though you know all the events. Compared to the Richard Dreyfuss Blythe Danner version of events, this is more stylishly directed more serious in tone. The casting is better too. But there is a bit less detail because it's shorter. There isn't much about how he built up the Ponzi scheme it's more about the downfall and the tragic effect on his sons. It is quite sympathetic to his sons portraying them like victims although some of Bernie's victims might not think they were totally innocent. It isn't sympathetic to Bernie but he does give an excuse about the extent of their losses saying he warned people not to give him not more than half to invest. So why people lost everything was due to their own greed.Robert De Niro looks so much like Madoff there were some scenes I couldn't tell which was footage and which was acting. Michelle Pfeiffer is of course too pretty for Ruth but she acts well and gets that pinched half anorexic Upper East Side look.

The Wizard of Lies is a great television movie with a very well developed plot and a stellar cast. It's a very bleak drama that can be difficult to watch at times, there is really no light at the end of the tunnel here. The actions of Bernie Madoff were inhuman and completely inexcusable, and this film does not try to sugarcoat that in any way. I never read too much in to it and was pleased with how in depth and easy to follow this all was, you do not need to know anything about the events prior to watching this movie. There really is no character to route for here, which, while it is understandable, is still one of the only majors issues I had. Madoff is, of course, the main character, who we can not possibly sympathise with, and even his wife Ruth and other close friends and relatives are not depicted with any noble traits. While it did not take me out of the movie, it just made me somewhat discomforted watching two hours of several characters I was not routing for. The cast is tremendous, Robert De Niro delivers one of his greatest performances in years, portraying outstanding depth and characterisation to Madoff. While it could not possibly have been an easy role to take on, he made it look simple. Michelle Pfeiffer is also excellent as Ruth Madoff, a very layered performance, her screen presence in this part was undeniable and whenever she left, I just wanted to see more of her. It is a discomforting drama that I enjoyed every moment of. An engaging plot and perfect casting, I would recommend The Wizard of Lies to anyone looking for a good drama. Chronicles the life of Bernie Madoff following the announcement of his Ponzi scheme that put his clients in billions of dollars in dept. Best Performance: Robert De Niro