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

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.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

88 of 92 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Dynamic, Literate, And Irresistibly Entertaining--The Financial Crisis As A Riveting And Important Contemporary Thriller May 25, 2011

By K. Harris HALL OF FAMETOP 10 REVIEWER

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.

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunning! July 13, 2011

By BarbZ TOP 500 REVIEWER

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.

32 of 37 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars way to big June 4, 2011

By don dickerson

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.