If you like cinema and finance, maybe you’ll like this countdown. Today, we are bringing you the Top 10 Finance movies you need to see. These movies have everything in common, money, banks, and wealth. So whether you are looking to get some motivation for your next trade, or you want to learn a few things about capitalism and the finance world, this countdown filled with movies is for you.
These movies will make the cash register bell sound, the bulls and bears roar, and make you think about your next paycheck. Whether you like it or hate it, capitalism runs the planet and will always be a recurrent topic in the world of movies. So let’s celebrate it with some good films. Let’s go.
Top 10 Finance Movies You Need To See
These movies all have in common the all-mighty dollar. They cover topics of greed, wealth accumulation, morality, drama, and comedy. Some of Hollywood’s greatest names worked in these great finance movies, and we hope you like them. Now, grab a seat in the boardroom because the meeting is about to start.
10. Boiler Room — 2000 — Dir. Ben Younger
This movie stars Giovanni Ribisi, Ben Affleck, Vin Diesel, Tom Everett Scott, and Nia Long. It tells the story of an up-and-coming trader that wants to make it big in the financial world and starts working for a firm that runs a pump and dumps stock action scheme. The movie honors all things Wall Street greed, and you will love the performances by Vin Diesel, Ribisi, and all the others.
9. Quicksilver — 1986— Dir. Thomas Michael Donnelly
Kevin Bacon’s character, Jack Casey, is a young floor trader who loses his entire company’s and family’s savings on a risky business decision. He quits his job and becomes a bicycle messenger, depressed and dissatisfied with his profession. Casey deals with his disappointed parents and girlfriend over his new career. He saves a troubled young woman named Terri (Jami Gertz) from a gang with the help of the colorful characters he works with.
Despite his frustrations, Casey appreciates the freedom that comes with his lower level of responsibility. He also uses his business acumen and education to assist his coworkers. Casey must decide whether or not to become involved when some are involved in dangerous or difficult situations. These issues spiral into a dark web of murder and intrigue.
Casey goes on to make a fortune in the stock market, restoring his family’s wealth and securing the financial future of his friends.
Quicksilver Trailer:
8. Rogue Trader —1999— Dir. James Dearden
Rogue Trader is based on the true story of Nick Leeson, a young Barings Bank employee. The latter is sent to Singapore as General Manager of the SIMEX Trading Floor after a successful stint working for the firm’s office in Indonesia. The film follows Leeson’s rise to become one of Barings’ most essential traders. However, not everything is as it seems: Nick is concealing massive losses by using the 88888 error account to gamble away Barings’ money with barely a glance from the powers-that-be in London.
After the losses reached well over £800 million, Nick and his wife Lisa decided to flee Singapore and seek refuge in Malaysia. Nick is unaware of the magnitude of his losses until he reads in the newspaper that Barings has filed for bankruptcy. They decide to return to London, but Nick is detained in Frankfurt en route. Nick is extradited to Singapore, sentenced to six and a half years in prison, and develops a colon cancer diagnosis. As a result, he didn’t finish his sentence.
7. The Wizard Of Lies — 2017— Dir. Barry Levinson
Robert DeNiro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hank Azaria, and Katherine Narducci star in the biopic of Bernie Madoff, the top dog of the Nasdaq who wound up becoming one of the largest fraudsters in the history of the financial trade ever. We see how Madoff’s financial investment fund crumbled in 2008 when it was proven that his gigantic returns were nothing short of a Ponzi Scheme. The film is a look at Madoff’s life and work. DeNiro, as usual, doesn’t disappoint, and his chemistry on-screen with Michelle Pfeiffer in the role of Ruth Madoff is simply excellent.
The Wizard of Lies Trailer:
6. Margin Call — 2011 — Dir. J.C. Chandor
Margin Call stars Stanley Tucci, Paul Bettany, Demi Moore, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, and Kevin Spacey. It takes us to the inside of a bank trading floor for a 24-hour period during the early stages of the financial crisis as they are planning to hedge their bets and unload every toxic asset they have. What ensues is a race against the clock, and a battle for the morality that entails selling something to someone that you know won’t be worth a penny by nightfall.
5. Too Big To Fail — 2011— Dir. Curtis Hanson
If you were ever curious about what happened behind closed doors when the markets crashed in 2008, this movie is the right one. Based upon Andrew Ross Sorkin’s homonymous book and starring William Hurt, James Woods, Topher Grace, Tony Shaloub, Matthew Modine, Bill Pullman, and Cynthia Nixon, this movie will put you at the edge of your seat when you hear the brilliantly scripted dialogues of the explanation of the consequences of the banking sector concerning the housing market crisis.
4. The Big Short — 2015 — Dir. Adam McKay
Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell, and Christian Bale star in this real-life story of a best-selling book that tells the tale of four different Wall Street players that placed the riskiest bet on the planet. They bet that the housing market would collapse. And while everybody thought they were crazy, these four men were right. So, what happened? When the market collapsed in 2008, and everybody lost their house, these men made billions on their bets. The movie is fast-paced, and it has an ensemble cast that breaks the fourth wall to explain things to make sense of it all. Kudos to director Adam McKay for putting Margot Robbie in a bathtub!
3. Glengarry Glen Ross — 1992 — Dir. James Foley
The film is set in the world of competitive sales and revolves around four struggling Chicago real estate agents who are trying to win the coveted “Glengarry Glen Ross” sales contest. The prize for the tournament is a Cadillac, but more importantly, it is the chance to keep their jobs. The four men will do whatever it takes to beat the competition and come out on top.
The film is based on the play of the same name by David Mamet and features an all-star cast including Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, and Kevin Spacey. Glengarry Glen Ross is a gritty, dark portrayal of the cutthroat world of sales and is considered one of the best films ever made about the business.
Glengarry Glen Ross Trailer:
2. The Wolf of Wall Street — 2013 — Dir. Martin Scorsese
This Martin Scorsese masterpiece stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Jonah Hill, and Jean Dujardin. It tells the real-life story of Wall Street financier Jordan Belfort, a man who managed to rise all the way to the top of his firm, Stratton Oakmont by doing lots of financial shenanigans. This dark dramedy will give you an insight of just how dark Wall Street gets for a man. The performances by DiCaprio, Robbie, and Hill are superb, and the movie, like everything Scorsese does, is simply elegant. From top to bottom, this is one of the greatest finance movies.
The Wolf of Wall Street Trailer:
1. Wall Street — 1987 — Dir. Oliver Stone
If there’s a movie that epitomizes Wall Street capitalism greed, it is this one! This masterpiece by Oliver Stone, starring Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, and Daryl Hannah. The film chronicles the life of Bud Fox, a young stock trader who enters business with a mogul named Gordon Gekko, who has no qualms in making bank by any means necessary. The movie isn’t a criticism of capitalism per se. It rather is a jab at the yuppie culture of the 1980s and how the quick “make a killing” mindset governed everybody’s minds at the time.
These were the top 10 finance movies you need to see. All these movies are glorified, in one way or another, the all-mighty dollar and what men and women are willing to do to get a hold of it. Did you like our countdown? If so, please share it with your friends on social media. That’s all the time we have for this for now. Happy streaming, and see you soon.
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