Margin Call (2011)
83%RT Audience Score: 74%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
8 wins & 24 nominations total
Smart, tightly wound, and solidly acted, Margin Call turns the convoluted financial meltdown of ’08 into gripping, thought-provoking drama
Margin Call may not be the most exciting movie out there, but it definitely hits close to home for anyone who’s ever worked in an office. The characters are all too familiar, from the cutthroat bosses to the overworked underlings. And let’s not forget Kevin Spacey, who steals the show as a corporate dirtbag with surprising depth. Sure, it’s a bit talky, but the dialogue is so good you won’t even notice. All in all, Margin Call is a smart and well-told story about the dark side of the business world.
Production Company(ies)
Paramount Pictures, Dreamworks Pictures, Amblin Entertainment,
Distributor
Roadside Attractions
Release Type
Streaming, Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
129 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for language
Year of Release
2011
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 49m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Oct 21, 2011 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 20, 2011
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci, Mary McDonnell, Aasif Mandvi, Ashley Williams, Susan Blackwell, Maria Dizzia, Jimmy Palumbo, Al Sapienza, directed by J.C Chandor, written by J.C Chandor, produced by Joe Jenckes, Robert Ogden Barnum, Corey Moosa, Michael Benaroya, Neal Dodson, Zachary Quinto, drama, financial crisis, Wall Street, investment firm, stock market, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Dylan Matthews, Alissa Wilkinson, Nell Minow, Robbie Collin, Peter Bradshaw, Nigel Andrews, Matt Brunson, Richard Propes, Leigh Paatsch, Grant Watson, Felicia Feaster, MPAA rating R, Kevin Spacey as Sam Rogers, Paul Bettany as Will Emerson, Jeremy Irons as John Tuld, Zachary Quinto as Peter Sullivan, Penn Badgley as Seth Bregman, Simon Baker as Jared Cohen, Demi Moore as Sarah Robertson, Stanley Tucci as Eric Dale
Worldwide gross: $19,504,039
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $25,677,026
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,616
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 2,800,112
US/Canada gross: $5,354,039
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $7,048,581
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,711
US/Canada opening weekend: $561,906
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $739,748
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,314
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $3,500,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $4,607,743
Production budget ranking: 1,924
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $2,481,269
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $18,588,014
ROI to date (est.): 262%
ROI ranking: 513
Paul Bettany – Will Emerson
Jeremy Irons – John Tuld
Zachary Quinto – Peter Sullivan
Penn Badgley – Seth Bregman
Simon Baker – Jared Cohen
Director – J.C. Chandor
Producers – Joe Jenckes, Robert Ogden Barnum, Corey Moosa, Michael Benaroya, Neal Dodson, Zachary Quinto
Writer – J.C. Chandor
Director(s)
J.C. Chandor
Writer(s)
J.C. Chandor
Producer(s)
Joe Jenckes, Robert Ogden Barnum, Corey Moosa, Michael Benaroya, Neal Dodson, Zachary Quinto
Film Festivals
Sundance, Berlin
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
8 wins & 24 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (173) | Top Critics (58) | Fresh (151) | Rotten (22)
Everyone thinks this movie is a fairly routine, not particularly notable drama…my love for Margin Call boils down to it being the one film that, more than any other, seems to understand the modern workplace.
June 3, 2022
Dylan Matthews
Vox
TOP CRITIC
Positively devastating.
September 14, 2018
Alissa Wilkinson
Vox
TOP CRITIC
February 18, 2012 | Rating: B+
Nell Minow
Movie Mom
TOP CRITIC
Greed isn’t merely good here, it’s God; and He’s about to smite His acolytes with blazing Old Testament relish.
January 13, 2012 | Rating: 4/5
Robbie Collin
Daily Telegraph (UK)
TOP CRITIC
A shrewd and confident drama.
January 12, 2012 | Rating: 3/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
It has intelligence and dry wit, but also a sly wink of designer trashiness.
January 12, 2012 | Rating: 4/5
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times
TOP CRITIC
Margin Call opts to show us that there are no heroes and villains, only villains and victims and poor souls weighing the merits of a Faustian bargain.
November 1, 2021 | Rating: 3/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
The film is practically hijacked by Kevin Spacey, though, as a far more complex corporate dirtbag than he usually plays.
September 15, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4.0
Richard Propes
TheIndependentCritic.com
Though an excessively talky affair, the screenplay’s abundance of great dialogue and powerful storytelling smarts casts a dazzling spell.
July 20, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/5
Leigh Paatsch
Herald Sun (Australia)
You can tell a story out of anything, and you can tell a story about anybody, but the more technical the story gets and the more unsympathetic the characters become make telling that story harder. Margin Call is very well told.
July 17, 2020 | Rating: 9/10
Grant Watson
Fiction Machine
Chandor has a real knack for capturing the airless, cutthroat dimension to the modern workplace.
January 17, 2020
Felicia Feaster
Charleston City Paper
Though perhaps trying a little too hard at times to project a macro-profundity on its banks imploding thesis, Margin Call gets most of its tactics just right.
August 13, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
PJ Nabarro
Patrick Nabarro…
Plot
A respected financial company is downsizing, and one of the victims is the risk-management division head, who was working on a major analysis just when he was let go. His protégé completes the study late into the night, then frantically calls his colleagues in about the company’s financial disaster he has discovered. What follows is a long night of panicked double-checking and double-dealing as the senior management prepare to do whatever it takes to mitigate the coming debacle even as the handful of conscientious comrades find themselves dragged along into the unethical abyss.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The ensemble cast of Margin Call includes big names such as Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Demi Moore, and Stanley Tucci.
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