Too Big to Fail (2011)

Michele Davis : [horrified]  The *whole* financial system? And what do I say when they ask me why it wasn't regulated?

Henry Paulson : No one wanted to. We were making too much money.

In an otherwise blah affair that was recapping the financial crisis of 2008, a spark of joy was to be found. William Hurt as Henry Paulson.

As a business person, I see a lot of potential for drama in the financial crisis. But that may be a minority opinion. The drama is there if one is willing to be creative and truthful to the point of the your story.  But if you feel that you have to be truthful to the timeline, the players that people have heard of due to the recency of the events, then much that is worthy of good acting etc. must be sacrificed.

Such is the fate of Too Big To Fail....I  kept thinking of 2 Fast 2 Furious and wondered if anyone else was thinking they had similar titles that might confuse a certain percentage of potential viewers. -Aw man where are the cars?!  2B2F ultimately had too many cooks, too many known actors that needed screentime, and a time budget that was not made for a feature film viewing.

I know this because, characters were introduced with overlays of type for their name. Bill Pullman, James Wood, Paul Giamatti, Tony Shalhoub, Topher Grace, Cynthia Nixon, Ed Asner, and more. I was Paul Giamatti won the SAG award for his Ben Bernanke, but in my eye William Hurt was a cut above.

If you don't understand the mechanics of the 2008 financial crisis there are much better, simpler, stories out there. If you wanted more drama from a story about the financial crisis, there better, more poignant tales available.  All in all 2B2F is a middling middle of mediocrity with capable actors and a exceptional William Hurt.

3.0 out of 5 stars