I second that. I was not expecting much when I first saw this gem of a movie. casting are spot on with crisp dialogues and tight screenplay. The only logical reason I could come up with for the below per user rating is lack of financial market knowledge among general movie goers!!It should be at least 8+.Though the rating improved a bit over the year ,earlier it's mid 6 but still its an underachiever imo.
Fully agree. Spectacularly written, directed and acted. Unfortunately a drama piece like this one, with no in-your-face tricks (CGI, violence, grand sets or dramatic music) is bound to be half-forgotten in this era of the death of the movies. Unless it gets an Academy Awards nod. But even that nowadays is becoming pointless, as Hollywood is steering the award machine to the dead waters of wokism rather then keeping it within the boundaries of art.
Jeremy Irons and Kevin Spacey give a masterclass of how acting is done in this movie. From Kevin's facial expressions to Iron's use of his hands in the big meeting. All stellar.
I briefly met Jeremy Irons at the bar. Everybody was like don't do it. I had to tell him he was my choice to be Magneto. Sure he waved me off like a child to play pool. However, there was a moment we locked eyes, and he and I knew he would have played a great Magneto. No one can tell me otherwise
“Ok. Y’all aren’t going to have a job tomorrow and no one is going to hire you in this field ever again. But we’re about to give you a pant load of money to destroy your career. Good news is you’re also going to be able to buy a house really, really cheap pretty soon.”
@@vovole1 Spacey literally said in this clip, "If we're successful here today we will be successful in destroying our own jobs." The financial crisis this movie depicts cost 200,000 jobs on Wall Street alone, half a million nationwide among brokers and other financial professionals. Yeah, they likely would have struggles to get jobs in this sector afterwards for months to a year. Plus this firm was selling something they knew was worthless to other firms. Not many people are going to be lining up to hire brokers from a firm that was selling billions of dollars worth of crap.
@@chancock4222 That's correct however these people got a lump sum payment of 1.4mil (personal) and 1.3mil (for the floor if they achieved a 93% sell out) so thats a total of 2.7mil in that time which is (according to some calculator i found online quick) 3.3mil in 2021. They also might've gotten their base commission on top of all of that. Having that kind of money at a time where everything is pennies on a dollar can set you up for life if you make the right investments and that's exactly what these people do for a living. They could build a portfolio of 1.5mil. Pay off all their debts with another 750k (im assuming they dont have more) and have 950k to have for savings, rental properties (which by this time have probably 5x in price). 2.7mil is a lot of money around 2008.
@@rayzala1393 That was exactly my point in the original comment. I was saying hey, you just ruined your careers but that's ok because if you play this right you're never going to have to work again anyway.
This is the speech I give to my employees whenever we have like...500 muffins left that have expired and we need to get rid of them. And yes...I work at McDonald's.
There are salmonella in these omelettes. As a result, the firm has decided to liquidate its majority position of egg products today. These are your omelettes that you are responsible for today. I'm sure it hasn't taken you long to understand the implications of this sale on your relationships with your counterparties and the medical doctors and nurses of this town and as a result on your careers. If you achieve 93% sale of your omelettes, you will receive the remaining 7 percent as a bonus. If the floor as a whole achieves a 93 percent sale, you also receive a slice of bread and two rolls of four layered toilet paper apiece. For those of you who have never been through this before, this is like what the beginning of a diarrhea sale looks like.
It's either that or play nice and go home empty handed. I'd bust my tail off, make my $1.3million and hopefully we all attain the 93% mark and make an additional $1.3million. A composite /total of $2.6million will set me up nicely to venture into a new career if the current one is burned beyond repair.
If they're willing to move on from this lifestyle/business and don't have serious debts hanging over their heads that amount of money could spell retirement or damn close to it. If not, then that should still get them by for quite a while.
@@magellanmax Not just hope, help the other people get their 93% sale as well. Once each person has gotten their stuff sold, they work their butts off to help everyone else get their stuff sold
@Russ Gallagher What? The way I understand this scene is if the traders/ floor sell 93% they get 1-2 million dollar check. However in doing so, it destroys theirs jobs. Even after taxes I would take 500thou - 1mill to destroy my own job.
What does it profit a man if he gains the world and loses his soul? The trader who is not going to lie to his customers, even if he loses his job, will be in demand because he can be trusted.
These sales people normally can earn at least 200K, 300K every year. And they look pretty young. 1.3 million is too low a price for them to ruin their well paid career.
When he takes down the glasses and sits down, he speaks fro the human side of the people, then he gets up, puts the glasses back and talks the corporate side. Like a mask. It's really brilliant.
magesticmaniacc The Big Short was entertaining, but in no way explained anything related to the crash. This movie did a great job explaining it, but I can promise that most of it made little sense to people outside the industry (and most inside the industry to be honest). Margin Call is very dense with a lot of technical terms used correctly, and those concepts are so complex that it takes a lifetime to truly grasp them.
Such excellent writing and acting. The line near the end about the "greater good" comes across almost in a horrifying way when he realizes for all his words in this pep talk, he knows deep down that their talents were really used for... nothing. Produced nothing except destruction except for the most wealthy. He didn't even have any "holes to show for it."
The devil growing a conscience, who'd have thought. Nice touch was that in the whole movie the only thing he really cared for was his dog, the point being ..a non-human that loved him back regardless of his actions. As a human being, he failed miserably and the only thing he's good at is deception.
That's just not true. People lost homes they couldn't afford, but they lived in those homes paying very little. Afterward, people bought really inexpensive houses they could never expect to afford. Houses are real, they exist, they did not go away afterward.
I like how in the end he hesitates to say... "for the greater good" . Signals to me he acknowledges it's all bullshit, there's no greater good, but his speech is so polished with so many years of experience that he's just done and doesn't believe in that anymore, or maybe never did, or just doesn't care anymore. An amazing scene and piece of art, excellent example of effective communication and Spacey is just outstanding, as always.
He's one of the most reliable & consistent performer in movie industry. But it cant hide the fact that he's bully. However I'll still buy a ticket to watch his next movie (if any)
@@jon8004 Yeah I mean there's The Man who Drew God but supposedly he has a relatively small part. The thing is with Allen is that he only has one thing, which he's always denied, and is pretty much Farrow's word against his. Kevin Spacey has a documented pattern of abuse over years and has admitted to some of it. Woody's been ousted from the studio system for sure but at least he's still able to get big stars for his movies. A Rainy Day in New York was great.
His character is just totally bullshitting about the greater good stuff too. He knows this firm is a cancer on society and only exists to fatten their own wallets.
Jeremy Irons, Kevin Spacey and Stanley Tucci all gave brilliant performances - felt like I was there. The ruthless realities of business but they also showed us the human side. Thoroughly enjoyed it!
Interesting interpretation. I saw it differently, but can absolutely see it through your lens as well. I felt like from the moment he took his glasses off, he was being honest, not couching his words, speaking "sotto voice". That was the best, truest, and most honorable part of him. But then as he slides them back on, he's back to spewing the company line, which was his promise to Tuld. Straight bullshit.
@@ecod7r 18 of my shares come from CFD and have a take profit at 500 or something that cannot be changed, stupid eToro But the other 9 shares are mine and i will give them to my sons before I sell hem to Melvin and Citron
Amazing to me that Spacey's character's son is also in the industry and, as we find out later in the movie, he didn't even think to warn him about what was going to happen. Would the average wall streeter risked prison to offer up that kind of information to be reasonably used by his son? I can't imagine not.
This is where that sales staff dropped the ball. THEY had all the leverage. The firm needed to liquidate and THEY were the only ones who could do that. THEY could have said "Not $1.3million but 3 million". The firm would have had no alternative options. TIME is the single greatest power position in any negotiation. The time was against the firm and the staff had all the time in the world. They blew it.
In the context of the movie this is not about the traders trying to maximize how much money they make in a tough situation. It is supposed to be about the traders doing something they know is unethical in exchange for being paid a ton euphemistically sold as making career choice.
1.3 or 3 million, makes no difference, for the company just peanuts. Is you continue watching, they make a 140million loss on a single trade later on, and its OK...
@Bruce S Well the point of the movie was to try to show everything from the firms perspective. The movie is about the financial crisis but the deeper message is how easy it is when you are inside an unethical system to never see things as unethical. Never getting the perspective of people hurt by their moves and never getting the details about how the all these securities were seen as valuable when they were not, is intended to put the viewer in the shoes of people getting brainwashed into thinking they are not doing evil at their jobs. But I agree the movie went too far. Especially if you only see it as Youbut clips. The problem is that because they artificially collapse the real timeline in the movie and leave out details for the sake of drama, it is way too easy to see the firm as heros. The message got lost by editing for drama. The movie was too subtle for its own good.
@@peterisawesomeplease No one sees the firm as heroes. Everyone who watches this sees this for what it is. How the wealthy stayed in power while bankrupting others. The entire film is unethical, up to and including Spacey not telling Irons to go f himself and walk out when he heard what he wanted to do. Integrity is something so few people have, especially in that industry. The people on the other end of the phone calls should have recognized the fire sale for what it was. No one should have fallen for that scumbaggery and they should have been left holding the bag and going belly up. But life happens. People lied and it cost most Americans everything.
@@peterisawesomeplease Agreed. In an ethical timeline, they would ALL go to jail. Which is a euphemism for... you know... a blindfold and a last cigarette.
To those who have stated that this was the end of the trader's careers and no other firm would hire them after the fire sale. You're forgetting one important aspect. In reality, the real world, every single brokerage house, every financial institution, every large bank was in the same boat as this company. ALL of the above were selling. All were aware they were selling something that in a few minutes after purchase would be worth pennies on the pennies on the dollar. And truth be told, had the federal government not acquiesced to the advice of the banking lobby, the economy would have crashed and burned. Now, many large banks were able to right their ships without much of the carnage of other firms and in the end paid back the federal government every dime given. Some banks and financials were forced to succumb to aggressive buyouts by more stable firms. The irony here is the federal officials told the banks to NOT pay back the loans. Anyway, the point is, those that were able to move forward from the carnage of 2007 thru 2009 actually continued to work in the business. Unfortunately like rats on a sinking ship, the upper level officers of these firms were allowed to bail and receive their golden parachutes. That's the galling aspect of this whole thing. Because together with the federal government, they concocted this scheme to expand home ownership to people they KNEW were not financially qualified to take on a loan for home ownership.
And the financial institutions forced to take the TARP money repaid it to the U.S. taxpayers, plus interest. Wish we could have done something like that during the government-caused covid lockdown. I doubt China is going to do the same for their companies and people who they are literally locking behind doors until the bogeyman is temporarily gone. Because of all their testing and locking down, they've suspended vaccination shots. Yeah, like the virus won't just come back after they reopen their 1 billion plus person country.
@@ppg4667 I think the name you're looking for there is Bush. The Federal Fund Rate was somewhere around 6% in January 2001 when he took over and then dropped to about 1% in September 2003. When they decided to start increasing that again in July 2004 that was the beginning of the end when all those ARM loans started seeing increased payment amounts that people never could have afforded in the first place.
The only thing I have issue with, in what you expounded on is the word "qualified". This is what people don't understand, it's not that certain people don't deserve a home, or need a home. It's simply because they can't make enough money to keep said home under duress. And Life will bring duress upon those who are least able to manage it. It's a sad reality, but it is what it is.
Well, their careers were up in flames anyway because if they didn't sell everything no matter what, the firm would go under, as will most of Wall Street, for the foreseeable future. As Sam mentioned in the senior executives meeting, they would have to throw the traders a pretty big bone for them to do what they have to do so the company survives. At least despite their careers being destroyed, they have a one-off bonus to act as a cushion, which is better than nothing. It might be a greater evil to be a part of destroying the economy and knowingly giving your toxic assets to someone else, but it's the more pragmatic option.
Me either. May be a different scenario though being in the situation and knowing that if you don’t. That you and your colleagues are going to be out of a job, no salary, bonuses, pensions and broke. Capitalism is ruthless. There is better ways for it to work. But that wouldn’t happen in today’s world.
@@edward7835 exactly. The last is last for a reason. I could finish my last difficult 7%. Or I can help a coworker that has an easier 20% to 50%. Just a scenario 😂
If I was in that room..I would work with the people in the room and exchange account with each other. It would a lot easier to sell more if you are familiar with that account and the people who work on the other side and help each other achieve the 93%.
Sometimes as workers you really have the power. I would have told them "Make it a 20 million dollar bonus, or I make one phone call to the Wall Street Journal." NDA's be damned and full speed ahead.
They're not really extras, they're featured actors meaning they are recognizable, close to camera, and their on screen time is much longer than say someone in a crowd would be. I'm guessing that after penalties and bumps they probably make 1200 - 1,400/day for non-speaking. Now if this scene was shot over several days then they may have just locked them in at a weekly rate to guarantee availability.
Speacey or rather the director used Walter Kronkite's reaction to the death of JFK as a reference, which doesn't change the fact is acted brilliantly. It was long before Spacey was declared evil in Hollywood. Whatever is true, he remains a great actor
Imagine that, instead of Kevin Spacey, if it were Alec Baldwin from Glengarry Glen Ross giving one of his "motivational" speeches. "As you all know, first prize is a one point four million dollar one-off bonus. Anybody want to see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. "
Different eras, different classes. Baldwin's is a lowly salesman from the 80s. Spacey's is blue blood executive from a Wall Street insitution in the 2000s.
This misses the point of the scene. The scene is not about choosing a high risk gutsy play instead of following the normal slow path. The scene is about choosing to do something unethical for the money. And even more to the point, it is about how easy it is reframe ethical choices as risk vs reward or reward vs reputation choices. But especially if you want this movie as UA-cam clips this is totally lost on people.
Aren’t they scared that some angry suckers would take revenge, for example by knifing them or whatever ? That’s conceivable in other parts of the world.
What would have really terrified me if I were one of these brokers, even more than not getting the $1.5M is the threat "Coffee is for closeres ONLY!" I would have run like crazy trying to sell as many securities as I could, JUST TO GET MY COFFEE!! Take away my Whiskey (I'm not Don Draper ), but leave my coffee alone!
This is when you turn and walk bc either way you're screwed and those bonuses are definitely not guaranteed at that point. At least leave with your dignity.
bring kevin spacey more boys to play with and get him back into movies and tv-series.. such a brilliant actor.. if im not too old already i would offer myself to him for making more stuff to watch.. such a shame this actor was cutted down..
@@StoryTimeforSleep The ONLY reason he was shunned by Hollywood is he got caught. Hollywood knowingly gives Oscars to child rapists that can't set foot on US soil...they don't care about morals.
What he says: "Have faith, that in the bigger picture, our skills have not been wasted, we have accomplished much, and our talents have been used for (uhh) the greater good...(with liberty and fraternity for all)." What they heard: "You pull this s#$^ off, you make a cool $2.7 Million a piece." Yeah, I like this country!
The movie is probably the most criminally underrated movies out there. So many great scenes
I second that. I was not expecting much when I first saw this gem of a movie. casting are spot on with crisp dialogues and tight screenplay. The only logical reason I could come up with for the below per user rating is lack of financial market knowledge among general movie goers!!It should be at least 8+.Though the rating improved a bit over the year ,earlier it's mid 6 but still its an underachiever imo.
This should have been Oscar nominated
@@theman2017inc it was
Fully agree. Spectacularly written, directed and acted. Unfortunately a drama piece like this one, with no in-your-face tricks (CGI, violence, grand sets or dramatic music) is bound to be half-forgotten in this era of the death of the movies. Unless it gets an Academy Awards nod. But even that nowadays is becoming pointless, as Hollywood is steering the award machine to the dead waters of wokism rather then keeping it within the boundaries of art.
If I would’ve understood it a bit more I would’ve loved it
Jeremy Irons and Kevin Spacey give a masterclass of how acting is done in this movie. From Kevin's facial expressions to Iron's use of his hands in the big meeting. All stellar.
I briefly met Jeremy Irons at the bar. Everybody was like don't do it. I had to tell him he was my choice to be Magneto. Sure he waved me off like a child to play pool. However, there was a moment we locked eyes, and he and I knew he would have played a great Magneto. No one can tell me otherwise
@@Dogen70 Wow! I can' t see anyone else as Magneto after your comment
@@Dogen70 Does he have a reputation of being difficult or something?
@@Dogen70LOL
“Ok. Y’all aren’t going to have a job tomorrow and no one is going to hire you in this field ever again. But we’re about to give you a pant load of money to destroy your career. Good news is you’re also going to be able to buy a house really, really cheap pretty soon.”
Worth it xD
"Destroy your career" lol. Like these guys are going to struggle to get a job afterwards. Do you think they ended up flipping burgers?
@@vovole1 Spacey literally said in this clip, "If we're successful here today we will be successful in destroying our own jobs." The financial crisis this movie depicts cost 200,000 jobs on Wall Street alone, half a million nationwide among brokers and other financial professionals. Yeah, they likely would have struggles to get jobs in this sector afterwards for months to a year. Plus this firm was selling something they knew was worthless to other firms. Not many people are going to be lining up to hire brokers from a firm that was selling billions of dollars worth of crap.
@@chancock4222 That's correct however these people got a lump sum payment of 1.4mil (personal) and 1.3mil (for the floor if they achieved a 93% sell out) so thats a total of 2.7mil in that time which is (according to some calculator i found online quick) 3.3mil in 2021. They also might've gotten their base commission on top of all of that. Having that kind of money at a time where everything is pennies on a dollar can set you up for life if you make the right investments and that's exactly what these people do for a living. They could build a portfolio of 1.5mil. Pay off all their debts with another 750k (im assuming they dont have more) and have 950k to have for savings, rental properties (which by this time have probably 5x in price). 2.7mil is a lot of money around 2008.
@@rayzala1393 That was exactly my point in the original comment. I was saying hey, you just ruined your careers but that's ok because if you play this right you're never going to have to work again anyway.
This is the speech I give to my employees whenever we have like...500 muffins left that have expired and we need to get rid of them. And yes...I work at McDonald's.
What McDonald's has muffins?!
"As a result, if you achieve a 93% sale of the muffins, you will receive a $1.40 dollar one-off bonus. If the floor as a whole...."
There are salmonella in these omelettes. As a result, the firm has decided to liquidate its majority position of egg products today. These are your omelettes that you are responsible for today. I'm sure it hasn't taken you long to understand the implications of this sale on your relationships with your counterparties and the medical doctors and nurses of this town and as a result on your careers.
If you achieve 93% sale of your omelettes, you will receive the remaining 7 percent as a bonus. If the floor as a whole achieves a 93 percent sale, you also receive a slice of bread and two rolls of four layered toilet paper apiece. For those of you who have never been through this before, this is like what the beginning of a diarrhea sale looks like.
@@u.v.s.5583 You should be writing for Hollywood or at least, SNL....(I can't stop laughing)
@@RBGUERILLA English muffins...
Wow. Def a unique sales meeting. Imagine being a Salesperson and they´re telling you: "Today is your last day....make the most money you can".
He told the CEO a couple hours earlier that they'd better give these guys a good reason to work hard today.
It's either that or play nice and go home empty handed. I'd bust my tail off, make my $1.3million and hopefully we all attain the 93% mark and make an additional $1.3million. A composite
/total of $2.6million will set me up nicely to venture into a new career if the current one is burned beyond repair.
If they're willing to move on from this lifestyle/business and don't have serious debts hanging over their heads that amount of money could spell retirement or damn close to it. If not, then that should still get them by for quite a while.
@@magellanmax Not just hope, help the other people get their 93% sale as well. Once each person has gotten their stuff sold, they work their butts off to help everyone else get their stuff sold
@Manuj Madan still a bunch. And it's more like 46% or 43% or so. At least where I live in CA.
I could do without that ear shattering tone after the clip.
No kidding!
Couldn't we all.
Agreed.
1.3- 2.6 million (before taxes) to destroy my own job. Where do I sign up
@Russ Gallagher What? The way I understand this scene is if the traders/ floor sell 93% they get 1-2 million dollar check. However in doing so, it destroys theirs jobs.
Even after taxes I would take 500thou - 1mill to destroy my own job.
What does it profit a man if he gains the world and loses his soul?
The trader who is not going to lie to his customers, even if he loses his job, will be in demand because he can be trusted.
These sales people normally can earn at least 200K, 300K every year. And they look pretty young. 1.3 million is too low a price for them to ruin their well paid career.
@@tekakaromatagi Looking for a soul in Wall street is akin to looking for virginity in a brothel.
@@jamessomers8955 Or you could try selling pennystocks
I would want those bonuses in writing, signature and notarized.
I’d want to actually see the money.
Mhmmmmmm right
Knowing that a firm is about to be in the worst financial situation of its history? Damn right!
I would
I would want them in cash
When he takes down the glasses and sits down, he speaks fro the human side of the people, then he gets up, puts the glasses back and talks the corporate side. Like a mask. It's really brilliant.
That last reaction shot (to the throw-away line about "the greater good") is priceless. What a great, great film!
Yah agreed.. its definitely my favorite market film.
Carlo Dave That struck me too
magesticmaniacc The Big Short was entertaining, but in no way explained anything related to the crash. This movie did a great job explaining it, but I can promise that most of it made little sense to people outside the industry (and most inside the industry to be honest). Margin Call is very dense with a lot of technical terms used correctly, and those concepts are so complex that it takes a lifetime to truly grasp them.
I had to watch certain scenes multiple times to understand it but I absolutely LOVE this film.
It sucks because most people think movies like this are boring, so it’s hard to find people to watch this stuff with
Such excellent writing and acting. The line near the end about the "greater good" comes across almost in a horrifying way when he realizes for all his words in this pep talk, he knows deep down that their talents were really used for... nothing. Produced nothing except destruction except for the most wealthy. He didn't even have any "holes to show for it."
Well said
It literally looked like he can’t even listen to another word that comes out from his own mouth anymore, great acting from Kevin
The devil growing a conscience, who'd have thought.
Nice touch was that in the whole movie the only thing he really cared for was his dog, the point being ..a non-human that loved him back regardless of his actions. As a human being, he failed miserably and the only thing he's good at is deception.
and then seeing paul bettany's character just raise his eyebrows at the end.. he felt the emptiness of the statement before anyone else.
That's just not true. People lost homes they couldn't afford, but they lived in those homes paying very little. Afterward, people bought really inexpensive houses they could never expect to afford. Houses are real, they exist, they did not go away afterward.
Spacey was marvelous in this scene, he nailed it! Spoken like a true sales manager worth his salt should.
A Paedo acting as a crook...Can't be too hard
Must have had a young man put him in a good mood
Must give Spacey his due. He was very good in this.
He’s got BRASS BALLS!
No he wasnt marvelous. Jeez, he was extraordinary....!
I love the expression of the guy behind him. He never says a word, but his face and attitude say "this is not going to hurt me, bad luck, plebs."
Why does He look like Charles Koch?
Lawyer making sure the company doesn't get sued
I like how in the end he hesitates to say... "for the greater good" . Signals to me he acknowledges it's all bullshit, there's no greater good, but his speech is so polished with so many years of experience that he's just done and doesn't believe in that anymore, or maybe never did, or just doesn't care anymore. An amazing scene and piece of art, excellent example of effective communication and Spacey is just outstanding, as always.
Every time I see Spacey give yet another amazing performance, I can't help but wonder how things could be different.
He's one of the most reliable & consistent performer in movie industry. But it cant hide the fact that he's bully. However I'll still buy a ticket to watch his next movie (if any)
@@HaiLeQuang Yeah, but I don't think he's ever coming back from this. There would be so much backlash.
@@jon8004 Yeah I mean there's The Man who Drew God but supposedly he has a relatively small part. The thing is with Allen is that he only has one thing, which he's always denied, and is pretty much Farrow's word against his. Kevin Spacey has a documented pattern of abuse over years and has admitted to some of it. Woody's been ousted from the studio system for sure but at least he's still able to get big stars for his movies. A Rainy Day in New York was great.
Wait what did Spacey do?
@@Beastly_Genius Google/Wikipedia's got it all.
im pretty sure i just watched the entire movie in 3-8min segments completely randomly on youtube..... and it was worth it.
There are some other really, really great quotes that you miss.
Same here
Melvins office:
Robinhood traders with GME today! 😆
@@subaruwrxftfw this is literally what brought me to this video
Ok guy
Bout to be Griffin’s office... 😆
🚀🚀🚀🚀✊
The reaction of Paul Bettany in the end is pure gold.
oof the greater good
"And, no swaps. It's outgoing only, TODAY." Amazing line.
Despite Kevin Spacey's problems he's a dam good actor.
one of the best movie speech ever ! beside his controversy, he s one hell of an actor
His character is just totally bullshitting about the greater good stuff too. He knows this firm is a cancer on society and only exists to fatten their own wallets.
CONCUR and AGREE 1000%
The finance sector is nothing more than the purest view into capitalism and how capitalism reflects the human condition and Darwinism
Jeremy Irons, Kevin Spacey and Stanley Tucci all gave brilliant performances - felt like I was there. The ruthless realities of business but they also showed us the human side. Thoroughly enjoyed it!
"Our talents have been used..."
That pause is telling
It's the battle between good and evil in his mind,deep down he doesn't believe what he's doing is right,but he is forced to do so
Price is what you pay ; value is what you get. - Warren Buffett.
Paris Hilton**
Bruce Williams: Its worth what someone will give you for it. If no one is buying its worth nothing.
no way. i thought value is what you pay and price is what you get.
Matt Damon***
We are selling to the willing buyers at a fair market price
vision is still trying to comprehend
Meanwhile, the CEO became Batman's butler.
I'd like to see more of Simon Baker. He's a good actor.
He has the lead role in The Mentalist, a series definitely worth checking out.
You can tell he didn't believe that last part "for the greater good..."
GME to the moon 🚀🚀
Edit: not financial advice not a financial advisor just like the stock
smart edit
I gave you a like for your edit haha good thinking🙌🏼
WE LIKE THE STOCK
You mean the "stonk"?
how much is your gme down now?
the insincerity on his face when he said your talents have been used for the greater good, that was incredible acting.
Great one. Especially from 1:55 when he starts acting sentimental to exert influence. Generally all this scene is acting an acting manager.
Interesting interpretation. I saw it differently, but can absolutely see it through your lens as well.
I felt like from the moment he took his glasses off, he was being honest, not couching his words, speaking "sotto voice".
That was the best, truest, and most honorable part of him. But then as he slides them back on, he's back to spewing the company line, which was his promise to Tuld.
Straight bullshit.
This is happening now in Melvin Capital
GME soldiers assemble and DO NOT SELL BEFORE 1420.69 PER SHARE!!!
bro its going over 2k even 5k.
you sell at 1000 ?
@@ecod7r 18 of my shares come from CFD and have a take profit at 500 or something that cannot be changed, stupid eToro
But the other 9 shares are mine and i will give them to my sons before I sell hem to Melvin and Citron
This comment aged well!
@@subaruwrxftfw doesnt seem like he sold in time but melvin lost half its value so that was a win
Thanks for your money sucker
*_Blue Horseshoe loves Anacott Steel_*
Charlie Sheen would have been great in this movie
that was a code line me and my friends used for years when we were kids. most people had no idea what we were talking about haha
Blue Horseshoe loves whatever company this is. Gekko would love the ruthlessness.
Well,at least they didn’t throw the traders out in the alley, call the cops and tell them they got hit by a car.
Amazing to me that Spacey's character's son is also in the industry and, as we find out later in the movie, he didn't even think to warn him about what was going to happen. Would the average wall streeter risked prison to offer up that kind of information to be reasonably used by his son?
I can't imagine not.
This is where that sales staff dropped the ball. THEY had all the leverage. The firm needed to liquidate and THEY were the only ones who could do that. THEY could have said "Not $1.3million but 3 million". The firm would have had no alternative options.
TIME is the single greatest power position in any negotiation. The time was against the firm and the staff had all the time in the world.
They blew it.
70% of the staff got laid of the day prior.. I don't think people were itching to push their luck.
In the context of the movie this is not about the traders trying to maximize how much money they make in a tough situation. It is supposed to be about the traders doing something they know is unethical in exchange for being paid a ton euphemistically sold as making career choice.
1.3 or 3 million, makes no difference, for the company just peanuts. Is you continue watching, they make a 140million loss on a single trade later on, and its OK...
I love the hollow ending, "for the greater good."
*THE GREATER GOOD!*
@Bruce S Well the point of the movie was to try to show everything from the firms perspective. The movie is about the financial crisis but the deeper message is how easy it is when you are inside an unethical system to never see things as unethical. Never getting the perspective of people hurt by their moves and never getting the details about how the all these securities were seen as valuable when they were not, is intended to put the viewer in the shoes of people getting brainwashed into thinking they are not doing evil at their jobs.
But I agree the movie went too far. Especially if you only see it as Youbut clips. The problem is that because they artificially collapse the real timeline in the movie and leave out details for the sake of drama, it is way too easy to see the firm as heros. The message got lost by editing for drama.
The movie was too subtle for its own good.
@@peterisawesomeplease No one sees the firm as heroes. Everyone who watches this sees this for what it is. How the wealthy stayed in power while bankrupting others. The entire film is unethical, up to and including Spacey not telling Irons to go f himself and walk out when he heard what he wanted to do. Integrity is something so few people have, especially in that industry. The people on the other end of the phone calls should have recognized the fire sale for what it was. No one should have fallen for that scumbaggery and they should have been left holding the bag and going belly up. But life happens. People lied and it cost most Americans everything.
@@zahrans ah Shut It!
@@peterisawesomeplease Agreed. In an ethical timeline, they would ALL go to jail.
Which is a euphemism for... you know... a blindfold and a last cigarette.
Many people don't know this, but this is actually a prequel to Breaking Bad. Tuco lost his job and had no choice but to start dealing meth.
Tight! Tight! Tight!
well he obviously didn't do well in the fire sale or else the bonus probably set him for life
He’s not in this clip
At least he didn’t have to go get his shine box in the interim.
That’s not Raymond Cruz. A bit of a similarity but that’s all.
Imagine if you only sold 92% of your stuff 😳
You’d still be a millionaire if the whole floor sold 93%
@@sam.lipchutz what if they also sold 92%
@@pewdiepiesmosh2055 imagine
@@sam.lipchutz >
if selling 1% more is cheaper than 1.4mil, just buy it for yourself
These clips are some of my favorite parts of the movie, and after you've seen it over 20 times (the entire movie) you remember them
can't help think of tobias fuenke's "fire sale" radio spot
That in-house lawyer in the background looks like a Matrix agent. He just needs some sunglasses.
Mirin Brah he looks like a Koch brother.
Ian Moone yo I was literally just about to say that!
@@Buchummo
He's the one that told the seniors that the market was going south and they would lose a LOT of money.
drmayeda1 looks badass in the background
He’s the member of the board of directors and he’s the one who came up with the fire sale idea. So yeah. Definitely an agent.
Having seen this, first hand, in the commerce sector, not FS, the brutality of hire and fire is very very true, Irons character is spot on
I love the way he says that last line like he's throwing up in his mouth a little bit
The impreasion on William's face at @3:16 is priceless.
He was contemplating that he should have jumped earlier.
and, remember, coffee is for closers.
When he wore the glasses he looked like a manager. When he took it off he looked like a ceo
To those who have stated that this was the end of the trader's careers and no other firm would hire them after the fire sale. You're forgetting one important aspect.
In reality, the real world, every single brokerage house, every financial institution, every large bank was in the same boat as this company. ALL of the above were selling. All were aware they were selling something that in a few minutes after purchase would be worth pennies on the pennies on the dollar.
And truth be told, had the federal government not acquiesced to the advice of the banking lobby, the economy would have crashed and burned. Now, many large banks were able to right their ships without much of the carnage of other firms and in the end paid back the federal government every dime given. Some banks and financials were forced to succumb to aggressive buyouts by more stable firms.
The irony here is the federal officials told the banks to NOT pay back the loans.
Anyway, the point is, those that were able to move forward from the carnage of 2007 thru 2009 actually continued to work in the business. Unfortunately like rats on a sinking ship, the upper level officers of these firms were allowed to bail and receive their golden parachutes. That's the galling aspect of this whole thing.
Because together with the federal government, they concocted this scheme to expand home ownership to people they KNEW were not financially qualified to take on a loan for home ownership.
Thanks Bill Clinton
@@ppg4667 It was George Bush who was in office in 2007
And the financial institutions forced to take the TARP money repaid it to the U.S. taxpayers, plus interest. Wish we could have done something like that during the government-caused covid lockdown. I doubt China is going to do the same for their companies and people who they are literally locking behind doors until the bogeyman is temporarily gone. Because of all their testing and locking down, they've suspended vaccination shots. Yeah, like the virus won't just come back after they reopen their 1 billion plus person country.
@@ppg4667 I think the name you're looking for there is Bush. The Federal Fund Rate was somewhere around 6% in January 2001 when he took over and then dropped to about 1% in September 2003. When they decided to start increasing that again in July 2004 that was the beginning of the end when all those ARM loans started seeing increased payment amounts that people never could have afforded in the first place.
The only thing I have issue with, in what you expounded on is the word "qualified". This is what people don't understand, it's not that certain people don't deserve a home, or need a home. It's simply because they can't make enough money to keep said home under duress. And Life will bring duress upon those who are least able to manage it. It's a sad reality, but it is what it is.
Was wondering if this movie held up in 2024. Sure does.
what they didn't tell them was that their bonuses were in stock options, hahaha.
Having been in a similar situation before, I can say there’s genuine realism in this scene.
"I want to find every bite you can find; dealers, brokers, clients, ....your mother, if she's buying!" Wow, 'How to ruin your career 101' indeed.
If you're selling this to your mother, your career isn't your biggest problem.
Well, their careers were up in flames anyway because if they didn't sell everything no matter what, the firm would go under, as will most of Wall Street, for the foreseeable future. As Sam mentioned in the senior executives meeting, they would have to throw the traders a pretty big bone for them to do what they have to do so the company survives. At least despite their careers being destroyed, they have a one-off bonus to act as a cushion, which is better than nothing. It might be a greater evil to be a part of destroying the economy and knowingly giving your toxic assets to someone else, but it's the more pragmatic option.
This is why you don't cancel Kevin Spacey.
What shame we'll not see him again any time soon ...
yea.. such a big talent.
Why? Is he in jail...or blacklisted?
Lisa DiConti sexual assault accusations or something like that
He is fantastic in this scene
I can’t imagine selling something I knew was worthless to clients I had worked with for years.
Me either. May be a different scenario though being in the situation and knowing that if you don’t. That you and your colleagues are going to be out of a job, no salary, bonuses, pensions and broke. Capitalism is ruthless. There is better ways for it to work. But that wouldn’t happen in today’s world.
Sounds like Nissan.
Primerica and American Income Life does it regularly
I like how he completely bases after he out in his glasses, rose tinted glasses
I think Wall St has got this exact same situation built up again right now.
MegaLangosta next time around all the banks are going down, including the central banks.
The guy behind him is the guy in the toilet in The Big Short.....shared universe confirmed.
As soon as id hit that 93% i would go and sell my coworkers assets too. If I am going to destroy my reputation, I might as well get the 2million +
It's 93% average, so you might as well continue selling those last 7% of yours as it has the same impact
@@Ramschat the last 5-10% might be a lot harder based on how the accounts were assigned to each of them.
@@edward7835 exactly. The last is last for a reason. I could finish my last difficult 7%. Or I can help a coworker that has an easier 20% to 50%. Just a scenario 😂
If I was in that room..I would work with the people in the room and exchange account with each other.
It would a lot easier to sell more if you are familiar with that account and the people who work on the other side and help each other achieve the 93%.
Sometimes as workers you really have the power. I would have told them "Make it a 20 million dollar bonus, or I make one phone call to the Wall Street Journal." NDA's be damned and full speed ahead.
They have Carmelo to handle such eh... disagreements
that little hand-waving at the end...a nice touch
Yeah, greater good bullshit.
$2.6M to end your career. That’s some motivation.
How was this not Oscar worthy?
Because it didn't get much box office for reasons I never understood
I have never watched the movie...just these clips on UA-cam, but wow...what powerful scenes by brilliant actors.
Kevin Spacey really has something, this aura.
Makes you wanna smash this goddamn fire sale
2.7 million dollars could probably set them up for life if they invested properly.
" OH YEAH YEAH "
Haven't seen this movie. No idea what the plot is. All I know is Patrick Jane's sitting in the corner staring.
I Watch this on weekends to be ready for Monday mornings!
Kevin Spacey is amazing in this movie!
I never expected Lester Burnham to give such a great speech.
Kevin Spacey brings so many dimensions to a role.
I wonder what all those extras are feeling when they're watching Kevin Spacey do his speech. That's a master of his craft.
They're thinking, "I hope crafty is good today."
They're not really extras, they're featured actors meaning they are recognizable, close to camera, and their on screen time is much longer than say someone in a crowd would be.
I'm guessing that after penalties and bumps they probably make 1200 - 1,400/day for non-speaking.
Now if this scene was shot over several days then they may have just locked them in at a weekly rate to guarantee availability.
Speacey or rather the director used Walter Kronkite's reaction to the death of JFK as a reference, which doesn't change the fact is acted brilliantly. It was long before Spacey was declared evil in Hollywood. Whatever is true, he remains a great actor
Way back to Elia Kazan unless we "separate" the person from their work it will be very hard to truly admire anyone.
2.7 million is plenty to fund a career change
Imagine that, instead of Kevin Spacey, if it were Alec Baldwin from Glengarry Glen Ross giving one of his "motivational" speeches.
"As you all know, first prize is a one point four million dollar one-off bonus.
Anybody want to see second prize?
Second prize is a set of steak knives.
"
Third prize is you're fired!
Coffee's for people who sell junk bonds to their mothers
Different eras, different classes. Baldwin's is a lowly salesman from the 80s. Spacey's is blue blood executive from a Wall Street insitution in the 2000s.
You're not man enough to take it. ABC.
great symbolism with the glasses
Surprisingly nobody yelled: Sell, Mortimer, Sell!
I saw a cheque made out to Clarence Beeks for the sum of $1.3m
so funny!
Or yelled out,”Margin Call,gentlemen.”
"Turn those machines back on!"
@@radio645 Next would be somebody coming in and passing the hat to raise the $394,000,000 in cash to pay for the losses. No pizza lunch today,guys!
This is what Panera tells us when the Cheddar Broccoli is about to expire or is already expired.
I dare say I'd want that bonus agreement in writing...and I'd want to be paid FIRST under the circumstances.
I agree. Suckers. Lol.
Why can't the movie sound level be as high as the outtro theme music?
That is a pretty damn good bonus as long as none of these traders are living beyond their means
Garrett Jackson ya except everyone will hate them now
Garrett Jackson that much money definitely is not worth having my reputation destroyed forever. If it was in the tens of millions, then maybe lol
Every one of them back then were living beyond their means
This misses the point of the scene. The scene is not about choosing a high risk gutsy play instead of following the normal slow path. The scene is about choosing to do something unethical for the money. And even more to the point, it is about how easy it is reframe ethical choices as risk vs reward or reward vs reputation choices. But especially if you want this movie as UA-cam clips this is totally lost on people.
@@Reaver1223 once the dust settles everyone cut each other’s throats until the tax payers bailed the system out
"Talents have been used for the greater good" = making a rich person richer.
All bubbles burst. No matter how much effort and resources are expended, they will burst.
Oh course they do, that easy to figure out , The hard part is knowing if its a bubble or trend.
" Can I take my keyboard?" Oh and what about those cool tranches we made? Can I take the bidders home? "
lmao
Imagine your job giving you one task and one task only and if you don't screw it up, you'll walk away with enough money to retire.
2 million is enough to retire?? What country are you in?
@@pferr13 any country!! it's more than enough pretty much anywhere
It is very telling that potentially giving every sales person a $2.7 million bonus is just chump change in comparison to what they could have lost.
Aren’t they scared that some angry suckers would take revenge, for example by knifing them or whatever ?
That’s conceivable in other parts of the world.
Spacey deserved an oscar for this movie.
What would have really terrified me if I were one of these brokers, even more than not getting the $1.5M is the threat "Coffee is for closeres ONLY!" I would have run like crazy trying to sell as many securities as I could, JUST TO GET MY COFFEE!! Take away my Whiskey (I'm not Don Draper
), but leave my coffee alone!
Or Alec Baldwin holding an "unloaded" gun to your head.
This is when you turn and walk bc either way you're screwed and those bonuses are definitely not guaranteed at that point. At least leave with your dignity.
the pause after he says "our talents have been used.........." before "......for the greater good". Gets me every time.
Yeah it’s subtle but clear that he know it’s bs but needs to say something to rally the troops.
"The ground is shifting below our feet" as if they hadn't been the ones digging the holes.
So if you make less than 93 percent sale and the floor, you get no bonus and your life is destroyed?
Glasses: Corporate BS
No Glasses: Authenticity
Kevin Spacey is so believable in this movie and particularly this scene that I'm already selling.
I used this same speech to motivate my used vacuum salesmen team the other day. I was able to sell 70% of our inventory away for profits.
throw Jared Venette in this movie from big short and that will be a real spectacle
What's that smell?
*OPPORTUNITY*
No. Money.
"They" believe... Such a careful word choice.
bring kevin spacey more boys to play with and get him back into movies and tv-series.. such a brilliant actor.. if im not too old already i would offer myself to him for making more stuff to watch.. such a shame this actor was cutted down..
Hahaha wtf dude
Do you even know why he was shunned by Hollywood or do you simply not care?
@@StoryTimeforSleep
The ONLY reason he was shunned by Hollywood is he got caught.
Hollywood knowingly gives Oscars to child rapists that can't set foot on US soil...they don't care about morals.
This movie is a masterpiece.
What he says: "Have faith, that in the bigger picture, our skills have not been wasted, we have accomplished much, and our talents have been used for (uhh) the greater good...(with liberty and fraternity for all)."
What they heard: "You pull this s#$^ off, you make a cool $2.7 Million a piece."
Yeah, I like this country!
"He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water. "
"For the greater good..." awesome