19 February 2012

2011 Movies: #24

Ref: Mulhern

#24 Margin Call

I was surprised when Mulhern said he was watching Margin Call since I hadn't heard of it before renting it during a weekend with the family this winter. Some of the lighting and sound quality gave it the feel of a low-budget number, but it ended up prompting serious discussions within my family about the financial crisis, so I suppose it hit its mark. As the story unfolded, it felt very true - and it gave the viewer a front seat to the actions, options and decisions that brought us to today. It was the type of story that had me thinking about it long after the credits rolled.

I was cringing throughout much of Margin Call because I was convinced it was going to go dark, break bad, veer into more sinister/violent/HBO-sanctioned territory than it eventually did. That may have been a distraction.

As a bonus, this film features Penn Badgley a.k.a. Dan Humphrey of Gossip Girl in a role that transitions into full-on whining (admittedly, with reason - but you're torn between sympathy and schadenfreude). But hey - at least I didn't spend a good hour talking to the television telling it how much I hate all the characters, like I do when I watch GG... each week...

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