Grimerlana Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.

Console best movie i've ever seen.

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

PWNYCNY This series chronicles a tragedy. A man who is flawed invites disaster to others, and especially to his family. Bernard Madoff did not start out as swindler, but became one. To the movie's credit, it offers a candid and plausible portrayal of the disaster that became Bernard Madoff's life. One comes away from this movie asking: How could he have gotten away with it for so long? Madoff didn't make any special efforts to conceal his activities. He banked the money in a major bank, was audited by government agencies, and his clients were sophisticated investors. Yet, it was only after being turned in by his own sons that the Madoff swindle finally stopped. Richard Dreyfus gives one of the great performances of his career as Bernard Madoff, and Blythe Danner is equally convincing as Ruth. The movie avoids demonizing Madoff, instead portraying him as someone caught up in a process that he could not stop. He knew what he was doing was wrong and kept doing it anyway, as long as he could get away with it. It's what happens when his world begins to crumble that provides the drama and the lessons. As the movie shows, Madoff was not operating in a vacuum. He was operating in the open. As long as his customers and enablers were profiting, no questions were asked. It was only after the scheme collapses and people are losing money that Madoff gets in trouble. And for that, he paid the price.

barbara_kelly The movie, as does the media, focuses only on Madoff and his investors and not all the businesses that got ruined because of investments. For example my husband and his co-workers worked at a Oppenheimer funds which had a Hedge Fund heavily invested in Madoff. He did nothing wrong, the company closed and most employees including my husband haven't been able to get a job for over 7 years!!!!!! But the SEC who were distracted by Madoff's history as an icon in the industry didn't do the most basic due diligence. The never checked his trading record, which was ZERO!!! The SEC employees still have jobs from this investigation and many got promotions, what the hell!!!!!!!!!!! The SEC was incompetent, and if they did their job correctly in the early phase of his scam, the depth of consequences wouldn't have been so disastrous. Also last time I checked when you are an auditor and you screw up like the SEC, you get FIRED!!!!!!!!!!!

ken Considering that they drag this out over nearly 3 full hours you would think you'd see it all. Not nearly enough is shown of how the Madoffs lived high on the hog for decades. And far too much time is spent leading up to the eventual crash and not enough is shown of the aftermath. If Madoff had only preyed upon the filthy rich he would have been far more forgivable, but he took down quite a few smaller folks in his fall from grace. To my way of thinking, Mark Madoff comes off as less redeemable than his father even though Mark supposedly had no knowledge of the ponzi scheme. What sort of son disowns his own father over a white collar crime? The great irony in this tale is that ALL of Wall Street is one huge ponzi scheme. The eventual collapse will one day make Madoff a forgotten footnote. It's the age old truth folks - if an investment seems too good to be true, it is. Overall an entertaining movie best viewed at double speed. It was nice to see Richard Dreyfus and Charles Grodin again.

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.