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Too Big to Fail (2011)

Paul Giamatti , Ed Asner  |  NR |  DVD
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)

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Product Details

  • Actors: Paul Giamatti, Ed Asner, James Woods, William Hurt
  • Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
  • Language: English
  • Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
  • Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: Unknown
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rated: NR (Not Rated)
  • Studio: HBO Studios
  • DVD Release Date: June 12, 2012
  • Run Time: 98 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B004EPYZDA
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,480 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • Learn more about "Too Big to Fail" on IMDb

Special Features

Timeline of a Crisis: An in-depth look at pivotal events that impacted the economic crisis

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Anyone with a significant amount of money invested in the U.S. financial markets might want to consider other strategies after seeing Too Big to Fail, a meticulously detailed account of the months in 2008 when not only America's economy but the whole world's was on the brink of an apocalyptic meltdown. Made for HBO, director Curtis Hanson's film boasts one of the more impressive casts in recent memory (William Hurt, James Woods, Paul Giamatti, Billy Crudup, Edward Asner, Topher Grace, Matthew Modine, Bill Pullman, Tony Shalhoub, Cynthia Nixon… the list is long and star studded), with Hurt especially effective as Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the central figure here. Having already presided over the collapse and sale of the investment banking giant Bear Stearns, Paulson was faced with a similar crisis when Lehman Brothers, another investment banker, saw its stock price tumble and its clients depart in droves--the result of the lack of government regulation and the purchase of new homes by many people who could not in fact afford them, among other factors. Paulson's attempts to oversee a private sale of the over-leveraged company failed, leading Lehman to bankruptcy; others, like American International Group (AIG), would soon have followed had not the government intervened with an 11th-hour bailout. The movie presents a great deal of information and an enormous amount of data, but Hanson and screenwriter Peter Gould (working from Andrew Ross Sorkin's book), while hardly sympathetic to the financial wheeler-dealers who got us into this mess, do a good job of keeping it all straight; and although we know how it turned out, the story is surprisingly gripping and tense, with brilliant performances by Giamatti (as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke) and Crudup (as banker-economist Timothy Geithner) in particular. With the 2008 presidential election looming, most of us were unaware of how close the global economy came to complete failure, but by the end of Too Big to Fail, we are left with the sobering realization that most of our money exists merely on paper--no bank could possibly cover its investors if they all wanted to liquidate at the same time. So perhaps putting a stash of cash in the mattress or a coffee can buried in the back yard isn't such a bad idea after all. --Sam Graham

Product Description

Based on the bestselling book by Andrew Ross Sorkin, Too Big To Fail offers an intimate look at the epochal financial crisis of 2008 and the powerful men and women who decided the fate of the world’s economy in a matter of a few weeks. Centering on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the film goes behind closed doors to examine the symbiotic relationship between Wall Street and Washington.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
88 of 92 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
In the realm of made-for-TV movies, there is no question that HBO has been leading the way with critically acclaimed and Emmy nominated fare within recent years. Why? They simply have made an effort to be a prestige label and to support and produce edgier, more sophisticated entertainment--oftentimes projects that you can't imagine any other network or studio championing. Turning Andrew Ross Sorkin's provocative chronology "Too Big To Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System--and Themselves" into a film version seemed like a somewhat dubious idea. Financial crisis as entertainment isn't the most comfortable notion, and yet the story is rife with drama and intrigue. Curtis Hanson's (L.A. Confidential) riveting docu-drama chronicles the pivotal period in 2008 where the United States, and indeed the world, faced an insurmountable financial collapse. As we still feel the devastating repercussions and are still exposed to the some of the same risk, this makes "Too Big To Fail" a must-see project for serious minded and adult audiences.

Centered around Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (William Hurt, who we will be seeing around Emmy time), the film charts the period when Lehman Brothers was spiraling into bankruptcy and how the government's decision not to bail them out exacerbated a worldwide crisis with AIG. Like a house of cards, the tenuous balance of the economic system was in danger of toppling unless some major moves and compromises could be made. Introducing a huge cast of characters, the narrative puts Paulson at the center of the action as he wrestles to maintain an overall financial stability. As a dramatic recreation and interpretation of events, this plays as a blow-by-blow thriller. Even though you might be aware of the outcome, it doesn't lessen the film's brisk pace or unrelenting intensity. Seriously, I found this to be edge of your seat exciting as well as enlightening. Truly an important piece for the time in which we live.

Aside from Hurt's stellar work (his best performance in years), the film boasts an oily and uncompromising turn by James Wood as the Lehman CEO and an increasingly desperate portrayal of the President of the Federal Reserve Bank by a great Billy Crudup. In addition to these larger roles, the film boasts the most impressive cast of the year with Paul Giamatti, Ed Asner, Bill Pullman, Topher Grace, Cynthia Nixon, Tony Shalhoub, Matthew Modine, Kathy Baker and many other familiar faces. Smart, provocative, chilling, literate, and most of all, incredibly entertaining--I highly recommend "Too Big To Fail" as one of the year's best dramas produced for television. In truth, I didn't expect to be as engaged and involved as I became. Anticipating a somewhat dry history lesson, HBO has instead served up an irresistible and important contemporary thriller. Don't miss it. KGHarris, 5/11.
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32 of 36 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning! July 13, 2011
Format:DVD
This is a must see... along with Inside Job.

The story is incredible... One caution: it's tough to keep all the players straight. I had to watch it a number of times in order to follow the cast of characters. You'll need to have time when you can concentrate to watch it.

It's a tale of tumbling dominos.... you'll be shocked at how the key players were not at all in front of what was happening. The story is incredible, complemented by excellent acting and a great cast.

Inside Job gives a longer term view of some of the same players (please see my review)... and their relationships before, during, and after the crisis. Shocking!

I hope this is helpful.
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32 of 37 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars way to big June 4, 2011
Format:DVD
Great film. Anyone that has money invested needs to watch this film. I have it saved on my DVR so I can show everyone this film. There was very little party lines and for some they just want to blame Bush for everything or now Obama. But in the movie there is very little about the president. A very great cast. The true story had me from the first minute. I can say I am happy that HBO did not go to the Republican and Democrats. Very Very Good.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars GOOD BOOK
I READ THE BOOK AFTER SEEIN THE MOVIE; THE LATTER IS MORE ACTION PACKED BUT THE BOOD IS GOOD READING
Published 16 days ago by goodmusicbuff
5.0 out of 5 stars Love it!
One of my favorite movies by far; the suspense, the dynamics between banks, and the overall quality of the movie, makes this movie a must see.
Published 28 days ago by E.Ruiz
4.0 out of 5 stars Nicely condensed version of book
I read the book and found it to be merely good. This movie I found to be very good.
The casting is excellent. Read more
Published 1 month ago by tk
5.0 out of 5 stars Yeah.
It was good because it didn't have Kevin Spacey. It also was much more realistic, it actually took on real events and charecters. All of these things made it awesome.
Published 1 month ago by John A Huha
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Movie
Lots of good actors, some funny things said, but i keep rewatching to remind myself of all the big business greed that goes on unchecked still, lots of sobering facts in this... Read more
Published 1 month ago by My Line...
4.0 out of 5 stars Great film on just what went wrong .....
Showed what happens when greed/corruption take over the big banks. Will keep it in my library to show my grandchildren when they reach the 'appropriate age' for understanding the... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Bruce K
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!
Brilliantly acted, exciting up to the end, captured the essence of what might have gone on in Washington and New York. Read more
Published 2 months ago by judy
5.0 out of 5 stars A must see movie
Few of us knew what was really going on behind the scenes. This movie, though fictionalized, gives us some idea of why millions of us lost our money; it also shows us how much... Read more
Published 2 months ago by B. Edmiston
5.0 out of 5 stars BRINGS IT ALL BACK FROM 2008 BANK BAILOUTS
Now you get to see how they finagle, coerse, & make people from the banks take the tax payers money when they really didn't need or want it from the Treasury Department when all is... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Linda J. Sherwood
1.0 out of 5 stars THIS SHOW IS A FARCE/WHITEWASH OF WHAT "REALLY" HAPPENED!!!!
DO "NOT" BUY THIS!!!!! To be honest, I ALMOST THREW UP WATCHING THIS SHOW!!! Nancy Pelosi and Hank Poulson are INNOCENT??? Read more
Published 2 months ago by ROBERT CORUM
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