This film was as inevitable as it is impossible. HBO’s “Too Big to Fail” is a problematic but captivating couple of hours, full of terrific turns and heart-pounding moments based on the economic crash — moments that defy explanation, let alone dramatization on-screen.
For starters, it has all the elements of a potentially dull movie: set mainly in office buildings; mired in economics; focused on detailing downbeat recent history and rehashing headlines that were difficult to comprehend the first time around.
It may cause goosebumps for those who find either mortgage-backed securities or Tim Geithner sexy.
Yet “Too Big to Fail” is surprisingly engaging for the rest of us too, not least for its all-star cast, some of whom are look-alikes for their real-life counterparts.
“Too Big to Fail” premieres at 7 p.m. Monday on HBO.
This exquisitely researched docudrama about banks, insurance companies and federal regulators may be more engrossing than truly enlightening, but for non-economists on the couch, that’s a start.
The rapid-fire film, based on the book by New York Times reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin, goes inside the boardrooms and conference calls — in fact, inside the heads of key players, chronicling the missteps and the long-term emphasis on deregulation that led to the bank failures, mergers and bailouts of 2008.
The movie version of the near-global financial collapse brings dramatic tension to a knotty subject but can be distracting when the actors overshadow their roles. The game of spotting stars threatens to get in the way of following what Fannie, Freddie or the Federal Reserve was up to.
Look! There’s William Hurt as U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, agonizing over the imminent implosion of the economy and throwing up in the bathroom. There’s Paul Giamatti as Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, eating oatmeal across from Paulson and predicting another, much worse Great Depression.
James Woods seems to relish his villainous role, playing the head of Lehman Bros. as a cynical schemer.
Billy Crudup jogs through Manhattan as Geithner, and improbably holds high-level conversations on the street via cellphone. There’s Ed Asner as kindly old Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, bailing out the country and buying the grandkids ice cream.
So much exposition, so little time.
The film deserves credit for condensing years of economic and political history into a bold two hours, keeping the human elements in focus while exploring high-minded theory.
The way Hurt squirms and sweats over the knowledge that he’s in a no-win situation is the essence of the piece: one man charged with rescuing the nation, maybe the world, after years of financial negligence.
Success won’t win him fans. Failure is impossible to contemplate. He needs to pressure the biggest banks in the land to pull together to pull the entire nation, businesses and individuals, from the brink of catastrophe.
Nationalize the banks? If that’s what you want to call it.
Bill Pullman depicts the head of JPMorgan Chase, Matthew Modine is the head of Merrill Lynch, Tony Shalhoub plays the head of Morgan Stanley, Evan Handler is head of Goldman Sachs . . . after a while the nameplates around the conference table are more helpful than the dialog.
Michael Heard, Cynthia Nixon, Topher Grace . . . the list goes on.
As the financial calamity escalates, the tension is energetically captured by director Curtis Hansen (“L.A. Confidential”) despite the cold sets, dull business attire and bloodless action. Hurt makes viewers feel the anxiety in a masterful performance.
In the end, “Too Big to Fail” may be too dense to comprehend in every minute detail, — but it’s also too good to miss.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
