Jeremy Irons and Paul Bettany are two reliable but underrated working actors right now. While Irons is an Oscar winner, he has not been in the awards spotlight since his win in 1991 for his leading role in Reversal of Fortune. He is also well known for his work playing twin gynecologists in the 1988 psychological thriller Dead Ringers. More recently, Irons can be recognized in the miniseries adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo and the movies The Beekeeper and The Flash.
While Irons is more celebrated for his films, Bettany has more often straddled the worlds of movies and television. His movies have earned him attention and awards nominations, breaking out in A Knight’s Tale before swiftly being nominated for a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. In the television sphere, he recently portrayed his Marvel Cinematic Universe role of Vision in the series WandaVision. Bettany and Irons were in a 2011 film together that is now being assessed by a former Wall Street trader.
Margin Call Gets A Professional Assessment
Margin Call Is Fairly Accurate
Margin Call was recently reviewed by a real stock trader. The 2011 movie is about a group of people working at an investment bank during the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. In addition to Irons and Bettany, Margin Call features notable cast members including Zachary Quinto, Stanley Tucci, Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, and Penn Badgley. The movie was under the radar at the time of its release, making just $19.5 million despite its positive 87% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes.
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While examining several movies and shows with Insider, former Wall Street trader Jared Dillian breaks down the accuracy of Margin Call. Dillian had high praise for Margin Call‘s portrayal of the trading floor, which he says is “the most realistic trading floor [he’s] seen so far in a movie.” He also commended Bettany’s performance but took some issue with Spacey’s character. Overall, he rated it a 7 out of 10 for accuracy. Check out Dillian’s full analysis below:
The one thing about markets is that if you’re going to panic, you want to panic first. Like it’s not that you should not panic, you just have to panic before everybody else does.
So what you saw in that clip, Paul Bettany, who is terrific, he starts selling bonds at like 94. And then the price goes down and the price goes down as the firm sells bonds over the course of the day. And like that is panicking first, before everyone else does. I would say that’s the most realistic trading floor I’ve seen so far in a movie. I think Paul Bettany sounds like a real salesperson. Kevin Spacey is kind of chewing the scenery and doing his Kevin Spacey thing. I don’t think he was really convincing as an MD. I would give it a 7.
Our Take On Margin Call’s Accuracy Score
Margin Call Holds Up Today
Dillian is a strict critic, offering other reviews in this video for acclaimed projects like Billions, Industry, and Trading Places. Though this is not the highest rating he gave a film or TV show in the video, for him to hold the movie’s portrayal of a trading floor in such high regard is notable. Overall, this review is a good reminder to go back and take another look at Margin Call, which continues to have a strong legacy despite being underappreciated during its release.
Source: Insider
Margin Call
- Release Date
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February 11, 2011
- Runtime
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109 minutes