#Middlebury #Movies
George Clooney plays a hotshot, know-it-all, stock-picking financial influencer with his own TV show in the 2016 thriller “Money Monster.” Jack O’Connell plays a viewer who storms the set, taking everyone hostage after a tip from the “Money Monster” ruined his personal finances. Scary, no? That’s the stock market for you. Big money, big risk and sometimes tragedy.
What’s got me thinking about money is the stimulus check I got last week and the wild few minutes that I felt relatively rich – before I paid my bills and made respectable purchases like the adult that I am. Here are five stock-market movies to put you on a wild, vicarious financial ride.
“The Big Short” – Based on a true story – during a period in time of which many of us are painfully aware – this is a funny and informative take on the central players in the 2007-2008 housing bubble collapse. Independent hedge fund managers and bank reps see the inevitable tanking of the housing market and commit to cashing in on it by betting against repayment of subprime mortgages through complicated financial instruments called CDOs. Stars Christian Bale, Steven Carrell, Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling.
“The Wolf of Wall Street” – Leonardo DiCaprio at his wicked, decadent, corrupt best, stars as Jordan Belfort, a relentless and hard-partying broker who has it all, loses it all and then reclaims it again before being targeted by the feds. Jonah Hill plays Donnie Azoff, a partner in Jordan’s fraudulent brokerage that they populate with young, brash hucksters pressed hard to make the sale.
“Wall Street” – The quintessential stock-market flick. Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) is an ambitious young buck who idolizes the uber successful Gordon Gecko (Michael Douglas). He snags a spot as Gecko’s apprentice, but only by skirting the law and assisting in underhanded, insider trading tactics. Oftentimes, a meteoric rise comes with a mighty fall.
Dan Ackroyd, Eddie Murphy in ”Trading Places” (Paramount Pictures photo)
“Boiler Room” – Seth (Giovanni Ribisi) is recruited as a junior broker trainee with the promise that with a little effort and some loose morals, he can get rich quick and impress his judge father and the ladies. It happens, but he finds out the firm’s dirty little secret: They are experts at the “pump and dump,” a technique that uses pressure tactics to drive the price up on a worthless stock that will inevitably crash. Also stars Vin Diesel, Ben Affleck and Nia Long.
“Trading Places” – Two unconscionable stockbroker brothers, Mortimer and Randolph Duke, bet on a social experiment: Can a street-smart hustler do just as well in the high-falutin’ world of finance, and will a prosperous and privileged snob keep his feet when faced with adverse circumstances – i.e., after he’s set up for a crime he didn’t commit and loses all his advantages? It’s a prince and pauper classic comedy starring Eddie Murphy and Dan Ackroyd.
© 2021 King Features Synd., Inc.
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