On the eve of the financial meltdown that devastated the world in 2008, a Wall Street investment firm discovers the seeds that will grow into their own undoing and have 24-hours to come up with a solution to the problem or see themselves put out of business, potentially destroying countless other lives and devastating other firms in the process.

CRITIQUE

It’s really rather shocking just how good writer/director J.C. Chandor’s debut film Margin Call truly is. Featuring a remarkable cast including Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Stanley Tucci, Paul Bettany, Demi Moore, Zachary Quinto (who also produces), Simon Baker and Penn Badgley, the film is a fascinating puzzle box where each piece slips into the other with shocking ease. What’s best about the film is how simply Chandor manages to explain some of the core reasons for the financial meltdown, constantly putting things into layman’s terms (“Explain things as you would to a child,” says a key character halfway through) and even if it’s still mind-boggling in its complexity I still managed to get a pretty decent grasp on the mathematical complexities assaulting the key players.

The movie also does a fine job of showcasing all of the moral grey areas all the protagonists must navigate, and watching how their decisions about what to do, about right versus wrong, affect them humanizes these bankers in a way that took me by surprise. While some jump into survival mode with slithery snake-like ruthlessness, other take longer to follow the corporate line, realizing the full extent of what the decisions they make will mean for both them, their fellow banking firms and the economic community at large long-term.

The most devastating aspect? The ones you end up like the most, the ones you’re rooting for to find a way out, the ones you want to make the right decisions, all of them are going to find a way to let you down whether they realize they are or not. In the end, self-interest beats out self-sacrifice, crafting a nebulous web of decent, lies and devastations that’s ruthlessly tragic.

Spacey’s been getting most of the buzz, and it is well deserved, but the entire cast is excellent, and how Chandor was able to convince them all to sign on for his ambitious little independent project is kind of mind-blowing. Some of my favorite scenes involved Tucci and Bettany sharing a quiet moment on a front porch, Irons and Spacey facing one another down in a board room and Badgley realizing he’s going to be fired while Baker coldly stares into a bathroom mirror and continues to shave. But Spacey, glorious, multifaceted and internally nuanced Spacey, does dominate, and it’s only proper that the entire movie builds to a last scene involving him.

There are hiccups, of course, and not all of it is as compelling as I’d have liked it to be, while Chandor’s grasp of montage isn’t quite there as of yet (one sequence, involving Moore, is particularly embarrassing). Even at a brisk 107 minutes the film does tend to drag a little bit, and it’s impossible not to be struck that the whole thing is really nothing more than a series of one-act plays more than it is anything else.

But if you want to know why your 401K has suffered a drastic downturn, why you can have a degree from a major university but can only get a job slinging pizza in a second rate Italian restaurant, have seen the value of your house disappear seemingly overnight, Margin Call does an awfully wonderful job of providing at least some sort of explanation. An invigorating picture filled with stunning performances from its all-star cast, Chandor’s debut is a strong one, and I can’t wait to see what he’s capable of delivering next.

THE VIDEO

Margin Call presented on a single-layer 25GB Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video with a 1080p 1.78:1 transfer.

THE AUDIO

Margin Call comes to Blu-ray in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and includes optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

Extras here include:

·         Audio Commentary with writer/director J.C. Chandor and producer Neal Dodson - Solid commentary track full of great insights.

·         Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary (4:31) – Not much to see here, and it’s easy to see why they were all excised, but I love Chandor’s candor in regards his handling of these scenes and it’s also kind of interesting to see Meryl Streep’s youngest daughter Grace Gummer make an appearance in a throwaway bit with Zachary Quinto.

·         Revolving Door: Making Margin Call (5:58) – If a movie needed a more extensive making-of featurette, than this is the one. Quite inconsequential if you ask me; this film deserved better.

·         Missed Calls: Moments with Cast and Crew (1:06) – Essentially a glorified gag reel, or outtake reel, but either way it’s not especially interesting or essentially worthwhile.

·         From the Deck: Photo Gallery (3:41)

Not a great selection of extras, and other than the audio commentary there’s not a lot to sink one’s teeth into. Seriously, this movie deserved more, and it’s a pity all of this is so rather forgettable and threadbare.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Margin Call is a fantastic drama about the early moments of the Wall Street financial meltdown featuring an outstanding cast, crackerjack writing and solid direction. It’s mesmerizing from the first frame, Lionsgate’s Blu-ray release top of the line technically (if a bit light in the loafers special features wise) and well worth taking a look at.