Margin Call (2011)

Content by Tony Macklin. Originally published on October 24, 2011 @ tonymacklin.net.

Margin Call puts human faces behind the masks of Big Business.

Although one character says, "This is not a prison" -- in many ways the business monoliths on Wall Street can be related to prisons.

They both have harsh rules; they both have survival of the fittest; and they both allow little if any options.

The system rules.

In Margin Call, loyalty is just an irrelevant word. At the beginning of the film, two platitudinous, young women are firing Eric Dale (Stanley Tucci), who has served an investment banking company for nineteen years. He is swept up in a siege of firings.

One irony is that the two bright young things, doing the canning, later get canned themselves.

Money is the warden. It has the final say. There is no parole board on Wall Street.

Set in 2008, obviously based on actuality -- can anyone say Lehman Brothers or Merrill Lynch? -- Margin Call is like a play. It has minimal action. The conflict is in the dialogue.

There are a few outdoor scenes, but most of the activity takes place in the sterile confines of offices, bullpens, and hallways. It's punctuated by rows of blue screens of computers.

As he is leaving on the elevator after his axing, Eric hands a thumb drive to a young junior associate, Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) with the warning, "Be careful."

That night alone in the vacant office, Sullivan works on the data. He adds some information and finds out the company is on the verge of collapse.

He urgently calls a superior (Paul Bettany), and the brutal game is on. There is no room for human concern -- the bottom line is all.

There are qualms, but they're all trumped by money.

If there are any ethics in the business world [college business ethics courses are unpopular these days], the company's plan for survival is unethical.

But in a world that lacks options, there is only winning and losing. Some of the characters struggle with the little emotional and psychological life they have left. But their choice basically comes down to money or no money.

In a dehumanized world, some still show random vestiges of humanity. A young employee (Penn Badgley) cries in a bathroom stall over dashed dreams, and an executive (Kevin Spacey) weeps over his dog.

A female executive (Demi Moore) wants to resist, but can't. She sits alone in an office in the dark, forlornly looking out at the distant lights of the city.

J.C. Chandor, director and writer of Margin Call, writes pithy and smart dialogue.

The best lines are rendered by the mogul master (Jeremy Irons). Irons delivers them with relish, as though they are delicious. He states his pragmatic case with matter-of-fact, piquant, brash clarity.

Margin Call is a bit static, but its dialogue and performances are electric.

Margin Call is a plaintive cry in the night of the soul.