Margin Call

A terrific film built on a dialogue-heavy script by director J.C. Chandor, Margin Call zooms in on the beginning of the 2008 economic meltdown from the inside. Appropriate in this moment because of the Occupy Wall Street movement, Margin Call takes place over the course of one night at the firm that started it all with subprime mortgages—the night before all hell broke loose in the financial industry. Kevin Spacey, Star Trek’s Zachary Quinto, Stanley Tucci, Paul Bettany and Jeremy Irons all survey the coming damage, but from different perspectives. Tucci and Irons, as great actors can do, make the most of their big monologues, sewing up this smart, fantastic and almost-thrilling think piece with an uncommon grace.