Breaking the Bank – In Cinemas Now, Digital Download June 6 and DVD June 20 – The Hollywood Guide to Banking
Multiple Golden Globe® and Emmy® award winner Kelsey Grammer stars alongside three time BAFTA® nominee Tamsin Greig and British Comedy Award nominee Mathew Horne in BREAKING THE BANK, a quintessentially English comedy about Charles Bunbury, an affable but bumbling chairman of a two hundred year old bank, Tuftons.
Discovering a rogue trader (Mathew Horne – Gavin & Stacey) has left the bank in serious financial trouble with rival American and Japanese banks circling like sharks, Charles (Kelsey Grammer – Frasier, Cheers) needs to attempt to secure the future of Tuftons. The only problem is Charles knows nothing about banking…
So when he puts everything on the line in a risky gamble, he ends up breaking the bank, losing his wife Penelope’s (Tamsin Greig – Black Books, Green Wing) family fortune and her in the process.
At rock bottom, Charles’ only hope of saving the bank and winning Penelope back is a homeless, self-trained financial wizard named Oscar (Pearce Quigley - Detectorists), the faint possibility of help from his estranged, anti-capitalist daughter Annabel (Sonya Cassidy - Olympus) and his dog, Taxi.
It’s not much of a team, and they don’t have much of a plan. So it’s probably just as well that Charles doesn’t understand how shorting and hedging might win him the day. But then again, he never did…
Directed by Vadim Jean (Leon The Pig Farmer, Hogfather) and written and produced by Roger Devlin (former banker), BREAKING THE BANK also stars John Michael Higgins (Pitch Perfect, The Good Wife), Doon Mackichan (Smack the Pony, Plebs) and Andrew Sachs (Fawlty Towers).
Over the years Hollywood has done more than just provide us with countless hours of entertainment and pleasure. Often taking form of a loveable teacher, it gives us ample insight into areas and industries we would otherwise not have access to. Vadim Jean’s latest film, Breaking the Bank, educates the audience on exactly how NOT to run a financial establishment. The film follows the hilarious endeavours of Charles (Kelsey Grammar) as he tries to save Tuftons Bank from serious financial trouble.
To celebrate its theatrical, digital, and DVD release in June, we take a look at the countless lessons we have learnt from Hollywood’s portrayal of the banking world...
Lesson: The most important person you need to bank on is yourself!
Charles Bunbury (Kelsey Grammar) is the sociable, yet inadequate, chairman of a two hundred year old bank, Tuftons. He comes to realise that the establishment is facing severe financial trouble following the actions of a rogue trader (Mathew Horne) and it is up to him to save it. The only problem is he knows nothing at all about banking. On a last ditch gamble to save the company, Charles ends up breaking the bank and losing his wife (Tamsin Greig), leaving him with nothing. The only hope of correcting his errors lies in the hands of a homeless, financial wizard named Oscar (Pearce Quigley), his estranged daughter Annabel (Sonya Cassidy) and his dog, Taxi. The oddball group must pool their resources together and fight to get Charles’ life back on track.
Lesson: Greed is good
Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) is a young and determined Wall Street stockbroker who wants nothing more than to be rich and powerful. Fox meets Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), a ruthless broker who stresses the importance of being greedy. Working with Gekko, Fox enters a world of dodgy business transactions, large amounts of money, and beautiful women.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Lesson: Everything is for sale
Martin Scorsese’s incredibly entertaining (yet morally shallow) biopic documents the rise and fall of Jordon Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio). Belfort and his pals start their own brokerage firm where they get filthy rich by defrauding investors. Jordan’s life becomes a carefree cocktail of expensive dinners, parties, drugs, and escorts. Everything was going well for him until the FBI came knocking at the door. When it finally looked like Jordan had hit rock bottom the film controversially reminds us that money can solve any problem.
Lesson: Admit when you have lost
Ewan McGregor stars as Nick Leeson in the unbelievable true story about how one man singlehandedly bankrupted Barings Bank. Seizing the opportunity, Nick moves to Singapore to handle the banks trading operations in that region. Having been given the freedom to operate unsupervised Nick illegally breaks established trading rules and covers the significant losses he has made. Eventually he can no longer hide his shortcomings and causes the 232 year old bank to collapse.
Lesson: Be first, be smarter, or cheat
After discovering that the investment bank where he works is in serious financial trouble, Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) calls his colleagues into the office for a long night of excruciating work. As panic kicks in and more senior members get involved, Sullivan and his crew find themselves having to pursue unethical actions to ensure the survival of their firm.
Lesson: The best way to hurt rich people is by turning them into poor people
Trading places is a hilarious satirical comedy from John Landis about a snooty investor, Louis Winthorpe, and a wily street beggar, Billy Ray Valentine, whose lifestyles get reversed. Winthorpe’s employers, the Duke brothers, put the switch in motion after making a bet about “nature versus nurture” and the role ones environment plays on their actions. Billy is given a new job and a stunning mansion while Louis is thrown onto the streets and framed for a crime he didn’t commit.
Lesson: Everyone’s a fraud
The Oscar winning adaptation of Michael Lewis’ book is about the true story of a group of investors who decided to bet against the banks in the build up to the housing market crash of 2007. Through clever research they were able to see that the market was a bubble ready to pop and they decided to make some money out of it. What they were unaware of was the extent of the corruption and fraud within the industry and the effect it would have on the average person – making their winnings hardly feel like winnings at all.
Lesson: Money CAN buy happiness
Ben Affleck removes all doubt from our minds on whether money can or cannot buy happiness in Ben Younger’s debut film, Boiler Room. The answer is yes, it absolutely can... that is until the FBI starts getting involved. The movie follows a college drop-out who begins working for a brokerage firm to please his strict father. He grows to realise that the work he is doing isn’t as legitimate as he first thought, initiating a battle with his own moral compass.
Other People’s Money (1991)
Lesson: The only thing better than money is other people’s money
A corporate raider known for his love of buying up businesses and selling their assets chooses a family run cable company as his next target. Worried he may lose his business, the president of the company hires his lawyer daughter to ensure their safety. The raider becomes enthralled by the girl and enjoys the legal battle as he continues to win over the majority of the company’s shares.
Lesson: A business card is a matter of life and death
Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is a wealthy business executive by day and psychopathic murderer by night. His violent and hedonistic desires become harder to hide from his Wall Street peers as the film progresses and Bateman spirals into uncontrollability. In what is arguably the pictures most famous scene is where Bateman and his colleagues compare business cards – a seemingly harmless activity that has devastating consequences for an unsuspecting banker.
Lesson: Your actions are sometimes more important than you think
Finally, a Hollywood film about banking that teaches a good lesson. It seems like the business and finance industry is often portrayed as a dark, ruthless place cut out for those with blurred morals. It’s A Wonderful Life tells the tale of George Bailey, a man who sacrificed his hope and dreams to take over his father’s loan business. A financial discrepancy involving an evil banker results in George’s decision to commit suicide. However, before he can go through with it he is visited by a guardian angel that shows him the positive impact he has had on his friends and family – proving that life truly is wonderful.
Breaking the Bank Film Page | Breaking the Bank Review
BREAKING THE BANK RELEASES IN CINEMAS JUNE 3, ON DIGITAL DOWNLOAD JUNE 6 AND ON DVD JUNE 20
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