Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

littlebytesawards Good movie that moves between the real life case against Bernie Madoff the father of the largest Ponzi scheme in history, and the movie. Catch the acting in this well done movie, but none better than that of Richard Dreyfus playing Bernie Madoff. Mr. Dreyfus came out of retirement to play the part and a great job he does, becoming the sociopath Madoff. But that is not to say the rest of the cast is not up to the job. Honorable Mention behind Mr. Dreyfus is Blythe Danner as Ruth Madoff. She not only looks the part, but her acting is so well done one begins to believe she is Mrs. Madoff, given the fast pace of the movie and real video footage from the financial crisis. Usually a made for TV movie means some mediocre acting and sometimes substandard writing, but not this time!!! Catch this one and watch Mr. Dreyfus, an Academy Award winning actor, at his very best.

vchimpanzee I didn't know that much about Bernie Madoff, except that he had supposedly cheated people out of millions of dollars. Actually, it was billions.But right away Richard Dreyfuss made this supposedly evil man look like a great guy. You have to like him. He had his clients' best interests at heart, but he knew what he was doing would be frowned on by the SEC and the federal government. And yet he had been doing this since the 1960s--making big money for people regardless of what the market was doing.And it became quickly apparent that Bernie cared about his family. A loving wife who had only a vague idea that her husband's dealings weren't quite legal. Two sons, one more uptight than the other, who like Sgt. Schultz knew NOTHING (at least that's how the movie portrays it). A brother who has some knowledge that Bernie's activities aren't what they should be, but is kept pretty much out of the picture.Dreyfuss does a fantastic job. I might even say Emmy-worthy. Most of the time Bernie is quite charming and a good guy. He can get quite angry when pushed. Knowing investigators are this close to putting him away, he seems quite vulnerable. And this last part is shown quite effectively with rapid-fire editing. The sound stays consistent but we keep seeing the nightmare Bernie thinks is coming, or flashbacks, or whatever, in addition to what is happening now. And this editing technique is used several times.Michael Rispoli is very good as the man in charge of the 17th floor. I should mention that the legitimate business operated from fabulous modern offices where everyone dressed for success on the 19th floor, where the employees included the brother and two sons. Mark resented that Frank got the promotion he deserved, but Bernie would not let his sons get mixed up in the illegal activities on the dark, depressing 17th floor where it was always Casual Friday.Ben Dreyfuss effectively showed us a charming and ambitious but not particularly endearing young Bernie in flashbacks. He showed how Benrie learned to do what he did.Blythe Danner is a loving, caring wife, until ... and then wait until you see what she's like. A very good job with a wide range of emotions. Erin Cummings is impressive as the loyal secretary. She seems out of place with the New Yawk accent in these plush offices, but she is quite appealing.Peter Scolari used to be so funny, but he's mostly serious here, which he has become good at in recent years. He really shows his ability when brother Peter's son gets very sick, and Peter starts feeling guilty about what he knows he has done wrong. And we have to go through the hard times with the family.There are happy times with the family as well, which makes up for the difficulties. But of course watching Bernie wine and dine and otherwise impress his billionaire clients (soon to be broke in some cases) is lots of fun. One of them is in West Palm Beach and the big band music in the scenes there is great. Frank Whaley is the man who started the process of bringing down Bernie Madoff. Since some situations and people are fictional, we don't know if he's real or not, but it doesn't matter. He is a brilliant investigator who lacks people skills and is often quite nervous. People don't take him seriously, and even when they do, Bernie has the ability to talk himself out of the situation. Or government officials are just morons. It doesn't matter. It's all quite entertaining. You want Bernie to win, but you know something is bound to happen.And when it does, it really does. There goes that rapid-fire editing again, this time with the sound matching the visuals.In one sequence the people are either real victims of Bernie Madoff or they are very good actors.Also effective is the apparent use of real ABC News anchors reporting on the scandal. Dreyfuss appeared on the TV screen during the closing credits, at least when I watched, to invite us to watch the real story coming up next, and to praise the talented actors and writers whose work we just saw, and I agree with him. Like him or not, I think this movie is a winner.

SnoopyStyle Bernie Madoff (Richard Dreyfuss) was a trusted member of Wall Street and the chairman of Nasdaq. It shocked almost everyone when he's revealed to have run a giant Ponzi scheme. His wife Ruth (Blythe Danner) is clueless to the scheme and even his extra-marital affairs. He even cheats money out of his secretary Eleanor Squillari (Erin Cummings). His brother Peter (Peter Scolari) is troubled about his role as Chief Compliance Officer. His older son Mark is angry that he's not allowed to be involved in the company investments. His younger son Andrew also works for him and gets sick. Harry Markopolos (Frank Whaley) warned the SEC over and over again about the possible fraud at Madoff to no avail.This two part network TV mini-series 2 x 2 hours is a bit too extended. As a drama, this would work much better compressed in half. The most important moment for me is back in the '29 when a young Madoff covered his client's losses. It explained how he started and the essence of what he's about. He's a confidence man. I don't need any more reveals about Madoff. That scene is eureka to Madoff and a perfect explanation of his character. The Harry Markopolos part provides some fun tension but that also gets played out. The rest about Bernie is a bit repetitive. I do not bemoan the secretary wanting a scene showing her being taken by Madoff. However, these self-serving scenes do pile up. The middle is a bit extended. Through it all, there is Dreyfuss doing great work.

jeglerengaw An interesting story based on Bernie Madoff the so called wizard of Wall Street, well played by the entire cast, and informative of what people are willing to do acquiring your money, Madoff may have started out simply trying to impress his friends and family as they stated he had it all before the Ponzi affair, so either he did it and it spun out of control or he became wrapped up in the illusion of his vain wizardry, maybe both, in either case its sad people become so wrapped up and taken so easily by money, never satisfied with what they got, and need something to fill their void of unhappiness, don't pity the poor man, pity the fool, and delusional wizards, the domino effect of the fallout was a atrocity to all the victims, hopefully a lesson to save others in the Madoff's of the future.