For those interested in finance and the stock market, movies that center around those topics are extremely interesting. In this post, we discuss the 10 best movies about finance and the stock market.
Content
- Wall Street (1987)
- Margin Call (2011)
- The Big Short (2015)
- Too Big To Fail (2011)
- The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
- Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps (2010)
- American Psycho (2000)
- Tulip Fever (2017)
- The Wizard of Lies (2017)
- A Good Year (2006)
1) Wall Street (1987)
Starring Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen, Wall Street is, without a doubt, one of the best films about the stock market and some of its most insidious personalities.
Wall Street is set in the 1980s, a booming time for the financial sector. Thanks to economic and financial sector deregulation, as well as the rise in popularity of junk bonds, the 1980s are notorious for leveraged buyouts of companies by vulture investors.
Michael Douglas plays Gordon Gekko, an unscrupulous tycoon who seeks profit at any cost. Apart from his impeccable suits, Gordon Gekko is famous for some of his speeches, especially the one in which he utters the famous words Greed is good.
Charlie Sheen plays Bud Fox, a young broker with a lot of ambition. His only two goals in life are to be rich and meet his idol, Gordon Gekko. Daryl Hanna and Martin Sheen complete the cast of this brilliant film.
2) Margin Call (2011)
Set just before the 2008 financial crisis, Margin Call is one of the movies that best exposes the situation in which investment banks were before the housing bubble popped and the global economy entered its worst recession in decades.
We can see the enormous risk to which financial institutions were exposed at the time and how a large part of society benefited from it. We also get a glimpse of what bankers are willing to do in order to survive.
Margin Call has an excellent cast, including Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinton, Simon Baker, Penn Badgley and Demi Moore.
3) The Big Short (2015)
The Big Short is a 2015 film that shows how a small group of investors was able to profit from the stock market crash of 2008, after having challenged the idea that the real estate market only goes up.
We can see how these investors were able to spot a problem that no one else wanted to see: that the housing bubble was only sustained by banks offering mortgages to people who would be unable to repay their debts. And that the consequences were going to be devastating.
Christian Bale plays the famous investor Michael Burry. The cast, of the highest level, is completed with Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt.
4) Too Big To Fail (2011)
This documentary film chronicles the collapse of the financial system during the banking crisis of 2007-2008 from the perspective of the CEOs of the most important investment banks in the United States, as well as government and monetary authorities.
We can see the conversations and actions that took place behind closed doors to prevent a widespread collapse of the banking system. Forced acquisitions, guarantees by the Federal Reserve, bankruptcies and bailouts with taxpayer money, Too Big To Fail shows how it was all decided.
This film brilliantly characterizes the CEOs of investment banks like JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, the Treasury Secretary Ron Paulson, and even Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
5) The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
This is probably the first movie that comes to mind when we think of Wall Street. The Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo Dicaprio, shows us the wildest side of the world of finance.
This film chronicles the rise of Jordan Belfort, nicknamed The Wolf of Wall Street, from an entry-level position in a small investment bank to having his own stockbrokerage house, Stratton Oakmont.
Set in the early 1990s, the film takes us through several glamorous places, including New York, London, Switzerland and Italy. This is one of the few 3-hour movies that you will appreciate.
6) Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps (2010)
Wall Street 2 is the sequel to the film Wall Street (1987), discussed above. Wall Street 2 is set in a very different era, shortly after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and in the midst of the economic and financial crisis.
Michael Douglas returns to play Gordon Gekko. Gordon Gekko has just been released from prison and tries to reconnect with his daughter (Carey Mulligan), whom he has not seen in many years.
His daughter is about to marry a successful investment banker (Shia LaBeouf), with whom Gordon Gekko will try to go into business with the goal to recover part of its lost fortune.
7) American Psycho (2000)
Set in the late 1980s, American Psycho offers us a glimpse into the yuppie world of the time.
Christian Bale plays Patrick Bateman, a frivolous investment banker who comes from a wealthy family. Although he has everything in life, he is not happy.
All this changes when he discovers his most sinister side.
8) Tulip Fever (2017)
Set in 17th-century Amsterdam, Tulip Fever is a drama that takes place in the middle of the famous tulip bubble. It shows the extreme decisions people can take when driven by greed and fear.
We can see how several misleading statements about the financial markets originated, such as this time is different, or profits are guaranteed.
Although it received unfavorable reviews, Tulip Fever has an excellent cast, including Christoph Waltz, Alicia Vikander, Tom Hollander and Zach Galifianakis.
9) The Wizard of Lies (2017)
This brilliant film chronicles the rise and fall of Bernie Madoff, a financier that started his career back in the 1960s and ended up running one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history.
Robert Deniro plays Bernie Madoff. One of the most interesting things about this movie is how he convinces investors to invest their money with him.
Although many documentaries have been done about the life of Bernie Madoff, The Wizard of Lies offers us a glimpse into his personality.
10) A Good Year (2006)
A Good Year shows a more human side of the world of finance and the need to focus on the important things in life.
Russell Crowe plays Max Skinner, a successful trader working in the City of London. After the death of his uncle, Max inherits a vineyard in France and decides to go there for a few days to close all matters.
Once in France, Max meets Fanny Chenal (Marion Cotillard) and begins to question what he wants in life.
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