"A riveting tale that offers an intellectual, yet horribly realistic insight into the financial crisis that we have all had to deal with..."
Depressingly relevant, Margin Call is an economical drama set during the early stages of the recession, and if you are concerned about it being a somewhat disorienting financial thriller, then you have every cause to be, as J.C. Chandor's production is an intelligent yet perplexing debut feature film.
Set in New York, Margin Call takes place across roughly 24 hours, predominantly in just one office block, focusing on a large investment bank fighting potential bankruptcy, in a situation said to be loosely based on the Lehman Brothers scenario from the same period in 2008.
When a risk management employee Eric Dale (Stanley Tucci) is fired from his job, he hands a USB stick with a project he had been working on to junior risk analyst Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) accompanied by the words "be careful." That night Peter completes the project only to discover that the company’s trading is set to exceed the historical volatility levels that the firm were using to calculate risk, at a loss greater than the firm’s market capitalisation and therefore bankruptcy beckons.
The key members of staff and executives including Sam Rogers (Kevin Spacey), Will Emerson (Paul Bettany), Sarah Robertson (Demi Moore) and the CEO of the firm John Tuld (Jeremy Irons) remain at the office overnight, thrashing out ideas, desperate to come up with a solution to their problem and therefore save their jobs, although any such proposition would require a vast amount of risk, and will only seek to damage any relationships they had once held with their counter-parties.
Margin Call, as you can surely establish, is not one to be watched nonchalantly and requires the viewer’s full attention to attempt to work out what exactly is going on, and the repercussions that may be faced. However, despite focusing solidly on proceedings, I still struggled to fully understand the predicament the firm were in, and how it had occurred. Featuring a host of financial terms, it became easier to simplify the plot to merely being a firm that have received some bad news, and must try and rectify it, and when doing so I was certainly able to enjoy the production.
The perplexing situations are made more accessible thanks to the gripping nature of the film. It remains suspenseful and tense throughout, and due to being set mostly across one night, the film has to remain fast-paced and dramatic to keep up the storyline. However, this urgency doesn't once allow for the film to slow down, disallowing the opportunity to ponder the situation at hand which can cause further confusion.
To combine with the captivating story, the performances from the highly-talented ensemble cast are wonderful, most notably Spacey, playing a key role as the head of sales. His character Sam tragically combines these financial developments with the impending death of his pet dog, bringing an incredible humanity to the otherwise quite unemotional film. He is fantastic in the role, coming into his element in scenes alongside his boss, played by Irons who is equally as brilliant.
However, despite managing to enjoy the feature, and managing to disregard the actual predicament and enjoy it simplified as a suspenseful thriller, the lack of understanding towards the economic crisis did prove a hurdle I struggled to overcome to fully appreciate the film. There were a variety of terms I struggled to understand, and even when the CEO Tuld asked for the damaging predicament to be explained to him as if he were a child or Labrador, I still didn't have a bloody clue what was actually going on.
Yet ignoring my financial ignorance, Margin Call is a fast-paced and engrossing drama, and a strong debut feature for Chandor. Featuring an array of strong performances, set during one fateful night, it's a riveting tale that offers an intellectual, yet horribly realistic insight into the financial crisis that we have all had to deal with, offering an intriguing depiction of such an important set of circumstances in modern history. You don't have to understand Margin Call to enjoy it, but I'm sure it will certainly help.
