Margin Call might not be a great movie, but it is a solidly good film that I will probably watch again at some point. In an exceptionally weak year for movies, it is easily one of the best things I’ve seen this year.

The thing I enjoyed the most about this film is the way it depicted the various levels of greed and insensitivity that exist within the financial corporate state, 5 levels altogether – from the “lowly,” $250K per year intern (played pretty well by that Gossip Girl dude) who does nothing and is completely obsessed with what everyone above him is making, to the $2.5MM per year “drugs & whores” middle manager, to his boss, to the beautiful young sharks (Simon Baker, Demi Moore) near the top who live in another world, to the CEO himself (played pretty damn well by ole’ Jeremy Irons.) The portraits of these various layers are interesting and very believable – they are not presenting caricatures, it’s all very low-key and honest. The real star is Paul Bettany, playing the $2.5MM per year middle manager, who turns in another incredible performance. He plays a complete a-hole, but you still like him and are fascinated by him. This guy is one of the best actors going, in my book.

My only criticism of this movie is that its pacing is just a tad sluggish and the dialog is just a little sparse. Neither of these is a deal-breaker – the film is still gripping and entertaining all the same – but they could have easily crammed more good stuff in there if they wanted to. Also, Simon Baker’s character was not developed enough; you never really know what makes that guy tick. But all the others are developed pretty well.

It’s a really good movie. I highly recommend it!