Films about finance have gone from rags to riches, to rags again. With the exception of Oliver Stone’s Wall Street, films in this exclusive genre have been in a state of recession, hardly making a mark at the box office. Stone, however, is looking to boost the flagging genre with a stimulus package in the form of a sequel to his aforementioned film entitled Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps.
Therefore in conjunction with the return of Gordon Gekko here is a list comprised of some of the best financial films ever made. In this case, however, greed isn’t good as there are only five films present on the list. These films prove that this is a thriving genre which, if tackled successfully, can provide entertaining and sometimes poignant narratives on society’s relationship with money.
Wall Street (1987)
Wall Street is a must-see for anyone interested in financial films.
Charlie Sheen plays Bud Fox, a naïve, small-time stockbroker who dreams of being as successful as his idol Gordon Gekko. The latter is a ruthless market manipulator who lives by his ‘greed is good’ philosophy. Gekko mentors Fox teaching him his insider trading tactics and under his hero’s spell Fox becomes a cutthroat trader. That success, however, comes at a price.
Wall Street is a product of its environment. Its synth-drenched score by Stewart Copeland of The Police, its constant referencing of its era’s technology, for example the DynaTac cellular phone or ‘the brick’ as it is more commonly known, and its over the top portrayal of the superficial nature of the period are all firmly grounded in the eighties. Consequently the film hasn’t aged well. However, it still offers more insight into the hierarchy of stocks, from the trading room floor to the rooftop offices of the brokers, than any other film on this list. Meanwhile Stone keeps the action fast-paced, employing rapid zoom shots and extensive tracking sequences to emphasise the velocity of his surroundings. All in all it makes for an entertaining ride.
Boiler Room (2000)
Writer-director Jim Younger’s fast-paced film is a slick yet scathing look at the unethical nature of boiler room share scams.
The film’s sharp dialogue compliments the skill of its ensemble cast which includes a host of noughties talent, including Ben Affleck, Vin Diesel and Giovanni Ribisi. The latter plays Seth, the film’s slacker protagonist. Seth’s troubled relationship with his overbearing father leads him into accepting the role of trainee broker at a small firm by the name of JT Marlin. He is our guide through this hostile environment and we learn through his voiceover of the secrets that lurk beneath JT Marlin’s successful veneer.
The film constantly acknowledges its debt to Wall Street, one scene in particular pays direct homage to that eighties classic. The brokers who are bred in this environment, however, are even more obnoxious than those encountered in that film. They are depicted as aggressive, misogynistic and homophobic but remain the most arresting characters onscreen. In fact it is when the film strays outside the office environment that it encounters stumbling blocks. The other characters in the film including the honest clients that Seth cheats and the FBI employees looking to bring down the operation are mere cardboard cut-outs.
Despite these flaws, however, Boiler Room remains a solid thriller with a brilliant script.
Trading Places (1983)
There is a social conscience at the heart of almost every film on this list. Trading Places, however, wears its issues firmly on its sleeve and pokes fun at them in the process.
Geriatric siblings Randolph and Mortimer Duke, owners of successful commodities broking firm Duke and Duke, bet that if they swap the lives of their top employee, Dan Akroyd, and a homeless beggar, Eddie Murphy, their man will take to a life of crime. Things go to plan until the unwitting individuals find out the nature of the wager and decide to turn the tables on the spoilt businessmen.
Director John Landis was riding high in the early eighties after the back to back success of his films The Blues Brothers and An American Werewolf in London. In comparison to those genre classics Trading Places seems stifled at first. With its classical soundtrack and elegant widescreen shots of Philadelphia’s business district it seems a far cry from the gross out humour that Landis built his career upon.
The third act, however, is where the director cuts loose. In a hilariously un-pc sequence the film’s ongoing theme of shifting identities is taken to new heights. The scene sees Murphy doing his now infamous impression of an African immigrant and features Akroyd in blackface as a rastifarian.
Trading Places is a classic comedy, which although it is built upon an unbelievable premise, has enough gut-busting belly laughs to keep viewers glued to their seats.
Barbarians at the Gate (1993)
The least well-known film on this list, Barbarians at the Gate is based on a fascinating true story. Glenn Jordan’s film re-enacts the events leading up to the leverage buyout of American conglomerate RJR Nabisco.
James Garner is brilliant as Nabisco’s outspoken CEO F. Ross Johnson who decides to take the company private after learning that its latest ‘smokeless’ cigarettes are deemed a market failure. Jonathan Pryce is equally as good as Henry Kravis, Johnson’s main rival in the takeover bid. Although as a TV film it lacks the cinematic grandeur of some of the other films on this list, Barbarians remains an often funny, satirical take on one of the biggest financial events of the eighties.
Rogue Trader (1999)
Nick Leeson was the rogue trader who brought down his employers, Barings Bank, singlehandedly with his perilous trading on the Singapore stock market. In this biopic Leeson is played by Ewan Mcgregor as a loutish Brit abroad who finds himself gambling with his employers’ money.
Although Leeson and his cohorts are portrayed as obnoxious and aggressive, at the core of the film is a sensitive romance concerning Nick and his wife-to-be Lisa. The film is told through the aid of a voiceover and therefore gives the added sense of authenticity. This, however, is Leeson’s side of the story and therefore he is portrayed sympathetically as the unlucky individual who was thrust into a hostile environment. Meanwhile his employers are the money hungry fat cats willing to overlook his errors if he can produce the numbers. It all comes off as a tad biased but remains an interesting story nonetheless, one that effectively cranks up the tension as Leeson’s life comes crashing down around him.
Notable Mentions:
American Psycho (2000)
Christian Bale is brilliant in director Mary Harron’s adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s blackly comic novel. The action unfolds through the perspective of the film’s troubled protagonist Patrick Bateman, stockbroker by day and serial killer by night. Not for the faint hearted.
L’eclisse (1962)
Not necessarily a financial film, Michaelangelo Antonioni’s drama is worth tracking down for its cinematic treatment of Rome’s stock exchange. The cinematography throughout is truly breathtaking.
Bonfire of the Vanities (1990)
Based on Tom Wolfe’s bestselling novel, adapted by critically acclaimed director Brian De Palma and starring a horde of a-list actors, including Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis, Bonfire had all the hallmarks of a sure-fire hit. However, the producers’ insistence on downplaying the darker aspects of the source material in an attempt to make the film commercially viable ultimately worked against it. Watch this if you want to witness how not to make a film about finance.
