Too Big To Fail

Tags: Bill Pullman, Billy Crudup, Ed Asner, James Woods, Paul Giamatti, political, Thriller, Too Big To Fail, Wall Street, William Hurt

Directed by: Curtis Hanson

Written by: Peter Gould & Andrew Ross Sorkin

Genre: Political Thriller

Running Time: 98 Minutes

8.4/10 Dropps

Too Big To Fail is the third HBO original film released this year, and thankfully it gets the bad taste of Cinema Verite out of people’s mouths, returning audiences to the quality that HBO Films has been known for. Too Big To Fail tells the story of the 2008 financial meltdown, through the eyes and minds of members of the Federal Reserve and the top bank executives.

Then-Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson (played by a stoic William Hurt) acts as the closest thing to a protagonist in the film, as the audience watches his sleepless nights and his difficult decisions through the crisis. Too Big To Fail chronicles the summer of 2008 and into autumn as major financial institution Lehman Brothers cannot stop hemorrhaging money due to toxic assets owed to the burst housing bubble. Paulson, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernacke (Paul Giamatti), and President of the Federal Reserve of New York Timothy Geithner (Billy Crudup) are the driving forces as they debate whether to save Lehman Brothers from financial ruin, as well as keep other failing institutions such as AIG, Merril Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs (just to name a few) from taking the economy down with them.

The acting in the film is superb with its minimalist accounts of action. William Hurt’s Paulson keeps his voice to a whisper for the majority of the film, the way a passive-aggressive instigator does to keep from shouting. Paul Giamatti’s Bernacke is a spot-on lookalike as he operates in the shadows during the crisis. Never responding much to any situation makes his few words carry the most weight throughout the film. James Woods was perfectly cast as Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld, a man whose hubris cost him everything. Rounding out a stellar cast are Topher Grace (giving his greatest performance to date), as Treasury Advisor Jim Wilkinson, Ed Asner as Warren Buffet, Bill Pullman as JPMorgan Chase CEO Jaime Dimon, Tony Shaloub as Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack, and Lastly Cynthia Nixon as Advisor Michele Davis, the only active woman in the movie.

Too Big To Fail also succeeds with its fast tempo and direction. The film operates similarly to The West Wing in that most of the action takes place with people walking through hallways, shouting into their BlackBerries while being handed even more documents. However, some of the best direction of the film comes during a large meeting between bank CEOs and members of The Fed. This includes a couple of scenes that line up every bank CEO in a manner reminiscent of a police lineup.

The film plays successfully to its genre; political thrillers don’t offer an audience any car chases or shootouts, or any monsters or serial killers. Rather, they create fear and suspense because the audience knows that this was a real disaster. This is both a pro and con for Too Big To Fail, as the audience can enjoy the film without any idea of what a credit-default swap is, on the other hand, those who want to go further into the matters might not be satisfied.

Too Big To Fail outlines an incredibly unfortunate time in American history, of which we have still not escaped. The movie does a decent job of explaining why the crisis exists but does a better job of making it an entertaining event to watch unfold.

-Mat Karako

Mon Jun 27

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Too Big To Fail

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