ON FILM: BANKER MOVIES MADE SINCE 2008
Capitalism: A Love Story
Michael Moore wouldn’t let something like the credit crunch go by without a stab at the system that has created global prosperity, and so we have his 2009 “documentary” in which he skewers the “casino mentality” of Wall Street and indicts capitalism as a whole. Tiresome.
Too Big To Fail
Based on the best-selling book about the financial crisis by Ross Sorkin, this made-for-HBO film aired in May 2011 and received 11 Emmy nominations. It focuses on the period between August 2008 and October 2008, and the actions of then Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson (William Hurt).
Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps
Gordon Gekko comes to London 23 years after his first outing on Wall Street. We’re treated to an enjoyable reworking of the Bud Fox-Gekko dynamic and it’s a good watch. The film isn’t as fiery or exciting as the first Wall Street (it’s inevitably autumnal), but it’s not mere money-hating tosh either.
Inside Job
A virulently anti-finance film narrated by Matt Damon that set out to prove that a crime had been committed by the banking community. The film tries to expose the realities of subprime loans, derivatives, leverage and mercilessly homes in on Wall Street’s cocaine-snorting alpha males.