Finance Movies

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The official 2006 Analyst Forum list of great Finance movies.

I just finished my Masters in Finance yesterday and am now looking forward to spending a healthy amount of time resting my brain. Between periods of heavy drinking and rigorous lovemaking I plan on doing a healthy amount of movie watching. As such, I would appreciate input form the group on compiling a comprehensive list of finance movie. I think we would all agree that any proper finance education is not complete without watching all the classics. I will get the ball rolling with the first contribution.

Title: The Bank

Basic plot: A maverick mathematician derives a formula that can predict fluctuations in the
Stock market. He goes to work and has to prove his loyalty to the �greed is good� ethos.

Great Quotes: �I�m like God but with a better suit�

Comments: This movie is great, the bank CEO is the best character for sure, a pure
capitalist. I really like the portrayal of the status divisions with in the bank, At one point when the mathematician/trader character brings his teller girlfriend to a party with the banks top brass, the CEO tells her to �act like one of us as along as you are here�, it�s classic. The movie is Australian, so if you are outside of Australia you might have to call around to a few video shops, but it will definitely be worth it. I would say your finance education couldn�t be complete without it. Enjoy
 
"The Boiler Room."

Greed run amuck, but then the hero has a Johnny Cash moment and "for the love of a good woman" decides to do the right thing (everyone say "awwwwwwwww").

My favorite scene was Vin Diesel talking a timid physician into buying a non-existent issue and the brokers providing the background noise for backup.
 
Bonfire of the Vanities. The manin charachter played by Tom Hanks accurately personifies some of the people on Wall Street.
 
Trading Places
Barbarians at the Gate
The Smartest Guys in the Room
 
FinanceStudent
I honestly do not see why one can be so impressed with "The Bank". It is a bit trivial - and the execution and actors are second-rate. Wouldn't commend it. IMHO.

"My favorite scene was Vin Diesel talking a timid physician into buying a non-existent issue and the brokers providing the background noise for backup."

Oh, yeah, I love that one too -)))
Plus - Affleck's pitch "act as if ..." - it's hillarious -)))

Bonfire of Vanities has very little to do with finance, it has a little different focus... Not my favourite finance movie...

Trading Places is fun...

American Psycho, babe --- that's the way to go... IMHO, the best movie EVER made )))
 
Congrats for your masters!

Here's my views on some finance movies.

Wall Street is the finance movie. I think every CFA candidate on some level admires Gordon Gekko, even though might not be willing to admit it. The downside is that at some points it's a bit naive but it doesn't matter cause Mr. Gekko is the man.

Boiler Room is an OK movie as well. It's about starting as a broker, selling and the related life style. I like the beginning especially but the later part of the film is not that good.

Dealers is based in London City financial center. I was a bit disappointed with this one. Might be cause it's a smaller budget film and lacks energy. The scenery and all the images are grey and a bit depressing but maybe that's how they want to portray London ;). It's interesting cause it shows the European center of the financial markets but the actors are not that good and the plot is a bit boring.

Rogue Trader is a movie I liked a lot. It's also interesting cause it's based on the story of Nick Leeson and what he accomplished by hiding the accounts. It's been a while since the last time I saw it but I remember liking it a lot. I think it came out in 1999 and at that time I was not into finance so I had a different view on it. But I think I would still like
it today.

Beautiful Mind is not really about finance but it's a great movie to motivate for math studies.

Trading places was funny but not that much about finance.

I haven't seen barbarians at the gate. I've heard good things about it, though.

There's also another movie that dealt with a woman secretary who worked in an investment bank and started portraying to be an investment banker. I remember it being a good one and it's been a really long time since I saw but cannot remember the name.

I'm looking forward to seeing the bank, don't know how to get my hands on it.
 
"Beautiful Mind is not really about finance but it's a great movie to motivate for math studies."


I read in Nash's bio that he tried to use his math abilities to trade stocks and ended up losing all his mother's money. LOL. Better her money than his I guess.
 
"There's also another movie that dealt with a woman secretary who worked in an investment bank and started portraying to be an investment banker. I remember it being a good one and it's been a really long time since I saw but cannot remember the name. "

Working Girl was the name. Good movie, indeed.
 
Guys, this topic has been widely discussed already, BTW...
 
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