Margin Call

Bail Out Wall Street Scenario & Dirty Filthy Wall Street
Margin Call, R, *****, Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Simon Baker, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci. A roadside film. Director J. C. Chandor. Length: 110 minutes.

When “Margin Call” opens, the audience views a sad moment as employees are being fired and leaving the building. The company is a large Investment firm. The film takes place during a 24 hour period in 2008 just moments before the collapse. Because of speculation and greed the mortgage catastrophe takes its toll on Wall Street.
The firing of individuals reminded me of the film “Up in the Air.” One has to remove emotions from the scenario in order to let employees go. Unfortunately, this situation has increased since the downfall of Wall Street in 2008. We are still on a roller coaster ride now, and unemployment is still at nine percent.
Eric (Stanley Tucci) is one of the unfortunate employees losing his job. He works in the Department of Risk Management. As he is walking out the door, he gives Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) a flash drive with some bad news on it. He tells Peter to look at it, but to be careful. Peter is basically a Rocket Scientist. He is part of the team of Risk Management that looks at data and history in order to project future profits for the firm.
Since Peter has a doctorate in Science. He chose Wall Street in order to make money. He stays late to look at the drive. His colleagues are out celebrating, because they were not one of the chosen employees to lose their job. It seems that eighty percent of the floor where they work has been sent home. The old animal instinct of “Survival of the Fittest,” takes over.
The lack of compassion for employees losing their jobs is striking. Yes, we must remain objective while giving the bad news to a person who is about to lose his/her job. The callousness in the way people deliver the bad news is simple not done empathetically.
Peter calls his buddies back to the office for a look at the bad news. All of the top executives are summoned to find an answer to this fiasco. As the film progresses, it is obvious most of the employees at the firm do not have compassion for anything or anybody but themselves.
The audience is subjected to how much these Wall Street “Hot Shots” make along with their attitude toward money and ordinary people. The viewer gets a glimpse of how the Wall Street employees spend their money on fancy cars, wild entertainment, etc. Will (Paul Bettany) is a big time player. He really likes to brag about his money, prestige, and what he does with his salary. We all know those guys – The let me tell you how great I am individuals.
We learn about corporation management, salesmanship, and annalist. Sam Rogers (Kevnin Spacey) is the top manager at the firm. He does not understand the small details of how some departments work. He just wants the bottom line, so he can make a decision. The same is true about John Tuld (Jeremy Irons) the top CEO of the firm He admits he did not get to the top because of his brain power. It was his management skills and decision making. This is how most companies seem to work. It takes lots of various skills and personalities to run a large company.
Sadly the “Golden Rule” does not apply to many people anymore. Ice seems to run through their veins when firing people or making questionable trades. It is all about money and greed.
The film will remind the audience of today’s headlines dealing with Wall Street and all areas that pertain to self-indulgence. Me, myself, and I attitude along with what is in it for me position formulate greed. The audience will not like anyone in the film when it is over. However, it is a must see in order to supply the viewer with a wake-up-call for empathy. We must be able to recognize and to some extent share the feelings of individuals who have been hurt or cannot help themselves.
Taking advantage of others is not exactly what we are here for. Maybe we need to try and understand what it means to “Walk a mile in their shoes.”
When we support money, greed, and sports over children, compassion, and doing what is right, something is missing. I have to paraphrase and change one word from the famous line by Tom Hanks in the movie “Apollo 13,” “Earth we have a problem.”