In 2010 Bernie Madoff confessed to his family that during most of his time as the chairman of the stock exchange, he created fraudulent transactions that stole $65 Billion from investors.
Over the following few years his family is brought into the scandal, with their own lives destroyed because of his actions.
Direction
Despite being a mostly dialogue heavy film, it is quite quick paced.
The use of darker tones and colour pallets, are somewhat strange – giving an almost vintage feel, despite it only being set a decade earlier.
There are frequent ‘close up’ shots of Bernie during the film, while this should be used to add strong feelings towards a character in the positive, as there is very little positive about him – it does the reverse.
Cast/Characters
Robert DeNiro gives an amazing performance as Madoff. He is at times an empathetic character, who truly seems to repent for his crimes. This is contrasted completely by his treatment of his family – especially son Mark. His final comeuppance at the end of the film where his wife abandons him following the death of both his sons is justified and the audience can’t help but thankful for.
Michelle Pfeiffer, once again playing wife to DeNiro. She is once again the highlight of the film, with her Queens accent. Her love for Bernie stays strong for the most of the film, and is hated by those around her for his actions. She even goes to the length of organising a double suicide to get away from all the hate he has caused her. She finally lets go of him once he is sentenced, and Andy dies of cancer towards the end of the film.
My only ‘down’ in her role was her age. She is supposed to be 3yrs younger than Bernie, and 50 years married, however a then 58 year old Pfeiffer is way too young to be believable in that age.
Diana Henriques, who wrote the book the screenplay is based on, plays herself in the film – interviewing Madoff throughout. Reportedly, she was enamored by DeNiro’s performance, and found him to be as close to the ‘characteristics’ of the real Madoff at times.
Nathan Darrow as Andy, and especially Alessandro Nivola as Mark are brilliant in their roles. Their untimely deaths by cancer and self inflicted are handled well, and come out of the blue (for those who are unaware of the real history of the family).
Screenplay/Setting/Themes
The story is told in a non linear fashion, beginning in 2013 ,where he converses with reporter Diana Henriques. It goes back and forth in the days and months after his arrest, most of 2008. Then we see the years after, including the death of Mark and Andy, and the divorce of Ruth (although not seen on screen).
Bernie is beloved by his own family, who become innocent victims of his actions. His behavior towards them is simply inhumane, and feels oddly written and performed. This is prominent in the ‘2008 Beach Party’ sequence, where he humiliates a waiter over some lobster, and ignores Mark over his dislike of the protein. He is dehuminised at this point, whereas beforehand he had snippets of humanity.
The much written about suicide attempt by Bernie and Ruth is paired with a strange dream sequence with is out of place with the realism of the rest of the film.
I found the frequent use of the f word was too much. DeNiro is no stranger to playing characters who use this word, but here it felt like it was included to make the audience despise him even more.
This is another of an overly dramatic film that is incredibly hard to watch due to the subject matter. Here too, there is little to no ‘relief’ from the continuous drama. Only the aforementioned dream sequence gives any, if any.
There is a very memorable and haunting montage of all the people who have been bankrupt by Madoff. This split screens over many, many screens and eventually pans out into a photographic mosaic of Bernie himself.
Score/Soundtrack
There is a very somber score that plays throughout the film. This adds to the already depressing nature of the film. This is especially noticeable during the sentencing scene where Bernie pleads guilty to all the charges
Overall
Solid film, with brilliant performances, and with stellar directing.
A strong recommend.
4/5
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