"It's possible that we are in a completely fraudulent system".

Rating: 9/10 (12 February 2016)

The film's best strength is probably also it's greatest weakness. Though it quite accurately and at times humorously portrays the prior decade's mortgage meltdown and financial crisis, for those uninterested in the financial jargon of mortgage backed securities, credit default swaps, and collateralized debt obligations, the story can quickly turn into a bore fest. A lot of the negative reviews of the picture on this board speak to that issue and I guess you can't blame folks who don't want to get into the weeds with all the investment lingo when all they're looking for is movie entertainment.
For my part, I thought the picture did deliver entertainingly well; the three celebrity spots breaking the fourth wall were cleverly done and presented the brewing financial crisis in plain English as opposed to Wall Street Journal jargon. After viewing the picture it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that the language used by the financial world is intentionally used to confuse, obfuscate and intimidate would-be intruders into the world of investing. Taken as a cautionary tale, the film's message ought to be readily apparent, look before you leap and only after doing your own due diligence.
The movie has a lot in common with 2011's "Margin Call" and demonstrates how even the guys with the noblest of intentions like Mark Baum (Steve Carell) can get involved in a situation that leaves them feeling disillusioned and powerless. What's more problematic however, even with the benefit of hindsight as to how the mortgage scandal was engineered and carried out, is that it's about to happen all over again. As I write this, the next looming credit crisis we'll be hearing more about will have to do with corporate junk bond debt, defaults on student loans and where did we hear this word before - sub-prime auto loans. Watch for the movie in 2025.