HBO Brings Wall Street to the Silver Screen in "Too Big to Fail"

"Too Big to Fail" is a drama about the 2008 financial crisis that rocked the country.  The movie is based on the book of the same title by Andrew Sorkin. 

 Sorkin, a financial columnist for The New York Times, made several appearances on  HBO's "Real time with Bill Mahr".  The movie is star-studded.  A few of the names you may recognize from other movies and TV shows:

Topher Grace (That Seventy's Show), Paul Giamatti (Side Ways), Billy Crudup (The Watchmen), William Hurt (Damages), James Woods (come on, everyone knows James Woods) , Bill Pullman (Independance Day), Tony Shaloub (Monk), Cynthia Nixon, (Sexy in the City) and Matthew Modine (Full Metal Jacket).

The movie starts with the beginning of the fall of Lehman Brothers Investment Bank and how the US Department of Treasury and the  U.S.Federal Reserve try to settle the markets and prevent the fourth largest investment bank from collapsing.  It runs all the way through with the TARP legislation also known as the Wall Street Bailout. 

The acting is very good with the cast mentioned above.  The dialog is fantastic.   To be honest, this movie could have been done as a stage play.  This movie was done in a way to make complicated financial issues understandable to most people. 

I have a degree in investment finance and some of the jargon used back in 2008 even confused me. In one scene, they break down how credit default swaps ruined our economy in simple English.  So no matter how you felt about TARP or government intervention in the financial crisis.  I would suggest watching the movie.  You get the real sense of urgency that Hank Paulsen (Treasury Secretary), Ben Bernanke (Chairman of the Federal Reserve), and Tim Geitner (President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and current Treasury Secretary).  I have watched this movie twice and waiting for HBO to air it a third time.