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Too Big to Fail (film)

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Too Big to Fail
Television release poster
GenreBiographical drama
Based onToo Big to Fail
by Andrew Ross Sorkin
Written byPeter Gould
Directed byCurtis Hanson
Starring
Music byMarcelo Zarvos
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producers
ProducerEzra Swerdlow
CinematographyKramer Morgenthau
Editors
  • Barbara Tulliver
  • Plummy Tucker
Running time98 minutes
Production companies
  • Spring Creek Productions
  • Deuce Three Productions
Original release
NetworkHBO
ReleaseMay 23, 2011 (2011-05-23)

Too Big to Fail is a 2011 American biographical drama television film directed by Curtis Hanson and written by Peter Gould, based on Andrew Ross Sorkin's 2009 non-fiction book Too Big to Fail. The cast includes William Hurt, Edward Asner, Billy Crudup, Paul Giamatti, Topher Grace, Cynthia Nixon, Bill Pullman, Tony Shalhoub, and James Woods. The film aired on HBO on May 23, 2011.

The film chronicles the 2008 financial crisis, focusing on the collapse of Lehman Brothers investment bank and the subsequent ripple effects on the global economy. As the firm's negotiations with potential buyers fail due to toxic assets and regulatory obstacles, the firm declares bankruptcy, triggering market chaos. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (Hurt) and Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke (Giamatti) lead efforts to stabilize the system, including rescuing AIG and lobbying Congress to pass the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

It received 11 nominations at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards; Paul Giamatti's portrayal of Ben Bernanke earned him the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie at the 18th Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Plot

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In 2008, the subprime mortgage crisis is affecting investment banks that have amassed massive real estate holdings. The fifth-largest investment bank, Bear Sterns, is taken over by JPMorgan Chase after its sale is subsidised by Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson. In the midst of an election year, Paulson is wary of funding more ‘bailouts’. Shares of the fourth largest bank, Lehman Brothers, have lost significant value. Despite this, CEO Richard Fuld turns down offers from Warren Buffett and South Korean investors, while holding out for favorable terms, At market close on Friday, September 12, shares of Lehman are trading in single-digits and the bank’s future seems uncertain.

Timothy Geithner, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, implores Paulson to allow federal guarantees towards expediting a merger of Lehman with Bank of America. Instead, Paulson wants the other affected banks to help rescue Lehman. Along with Geithner and SEC Chairman Christopher Cox, he convenes an emergency meeting of bank CEOs to resolve the Lehman issue. Banks discuss buying out Lehman’s devalued real estate assets, however, Bank of America announces a surprise merger with Lehman-rival Merrill Lynch instead. The main US buyer out, attention veers towards Barclays but British regulators refuse to relax restrictions, as they ‘do not want to import … [America’s] … cancer’. With no sale imminent by September 15, Lehman declares bankruptcy.

The fallout from the failure is immediate and far-reaching. The stock market crashes, leading investors to withdraw deposits. As a result, banks stop making new loans, freezing the credit market for businesses who cannot quickly borrow money for their operations. Even General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt feels their business affected. Amidst this, French Finance minister Christine Lagarde pressures Paulson to not let AIG fail like Lehman, since the firm is too interconnected in international business. AIG receives an $85 billion federal loan; banks Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs avoid Lehman’s fate, by striking deals with Mitsubishi and Buffett respectively.

Ben Bernanke believes unfreezing credit is a priority, else the situation could devolve into a generational crisis like the 1929 Depression. Paulson’s team of Neel Kashkari and Jim Wilkinson lobby Congress for blanket funds to deal with any developing situation. Their $700 billion proposal is rejected, and negotiations further stall when Republican Presidential nominee, John McCain, shows up mid-campaign to politicise the issue. Paulson talks down McCain from interfering, and a revised proposal called TARP is passed. Despite now having funds, the plan to buy out toxic assets from the system proves “too slow”. Advisor Dan Jester proposes injecting money into the system through the banks to unfreeze credit.

As part of the scheme, major banks are given loans worth $125 billion, to collectively lend out to borrowers. Very few restrictions are placed on them, however, since the government does not want to seem as if they are interfering with the banks. Realizing the irony of the situation, communications advisor Michele Davis laments that the same banks that caused the crisis are now also dictating terms. As credits roll, an epilogue reveals that credit conditions did not ease until 2009 when the market freefall was arrested. Meanwhile, the funds received by the banks facilitated new highs in Wall Street compensation, which rose to $135 billion by 2010.[1]

Cast

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The cast includes the following:[2]

Reception

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Critical reception

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On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 74%, based on 27 reviews, and an average rating of 6/10.[3] On Metacritic, the movie received a weighted average score of 67/100 from 17 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[4]

The A.V. Club gave the film a B rating.[5]

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
2011
 Artios Awards Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Television Movie/Mini Series Alexa L. Fogel and Christine Kromer Nominated [6]
Hollywood Post Alliance Awards Outstanding Color Grading – Television Kevin O'Connor Nominated [7]
Outstanding Sound – Television Michael Kirchberger, Chris Jenkins, and
Bob Beemer 		Nominated
Online Film & Television Association Awards Best Actor in a Motion Picture or Miniseries William Hurt Nominated [8]
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture or Miniseries Paul Giamatti Won
Best Direction of a Motion Picture or Miniseries Curtis Hanson Nominated
Best Writing of a Motion Picture or Miniseries Peter Gould Nominated
Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture or Miniseries Nominated
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Miniseries or Movie Curtis Hanson, Paula Weinstein,
Jeffrey Levine, Carol Fenelon, and
Ezra Swerdlow 		Nominated [9]
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie William Hurt Nominated
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie Paul Giamatti Nominated
James Woods Nominated
Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special Curtis Hanson Nominated
Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special Peter Gould Nominated
Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special Alexa L. Fogel and Christine Kromer Nominated
Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or Movie Kramer Morgenthau Nominated
Outstanding Main Title Design Michael Riley, Bob Swensen,
Adam Bluming, and Cory Shaw 		Nominated
Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries or a Movie Barbara Tulliver and Plummy Tucker Nominated
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie Jimmy Sabat, Chris Jenkins, and
Bob Beemer 		Nominated
Satellite Awards Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television Nominated [10]
Best Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television William Hurt Nominated
Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture
Made for Television 		James Woods Nominated
Television Critics Association Awards Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials Nominated [11]
2012
 Art Directors Guild Awards Excellence in Production Design Award – Television Movie or Mini-Series Bob Shaw, Miguel López-Castillo,
Katya Blumenberg, Larry M. Gruber,
Holly Watson, Peter Hackman,
and Carol Silverman 		Nominated [12]
Cinema Audio Society Awards Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Movies and Mini-Series James Sabat, Chris Jenkins,
Bob Beemer, and Chris Fogel 		Won [13]
Golden Globe Awards Best Miniseries or Television Film Nominated [14]
Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film William Hurt Nominated
Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Paul Giamatti Nominated
Guild of Music Supervisors Awards Best Music Supervision for Television Long Form and Movie Evyen Klean[a] Won
Producers Guild of America Awards David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television Carol Fenelon, Jeffrey Levine, and
Paula Weinstein 		Nominated [15]
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries Paul Giamatti Won [16]
James Woods Nominated
Writers Guild of America Awards Long Form – Adapted Peter Gould;
Based on the book by Andrew Ross Sorkin 		Won [17]

Home media

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The DVD was released on June 12, 2012.[18]

See also

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Notes

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References

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  1. ^ "Too Big to Fail". Complete Season DVDs. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
  2. ^ "Too Big to Fail: Cast & Crew". HBO Movies. HBO. Retrieved January 31, 2012.
  3. ^ "Too Big to Fail (2011)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  4. ^ "Too Big To Fail Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. June 25, 2018.
  5. ^ Tobias, Scott (May 23, 2011). "Too Big To Fail". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
  6. ^ "2011 Artios Awards". www.castingsociety.com. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
  7. ^ "2011 HPA Awards". Hollywood Professional Association. Retrieved September 8, 2022.
  8. ^ "15th Annual TV Awards (2010-11)". Online Film & Television Association. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  9. ^ "Too Big to Fail". Emmys.com. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  10. ^ "2011 Satellite Awards". Satellite Awards. International Press Academy. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  11. ^ "The Television Critics Association Announces 2011 TCA Awards Nominees". Television Critics Association. June 13, 2011. Archived from the original on February 13, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  12. ^ "Nominees/Winners". Art Directors Guild. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
  13. ^ "'Hanna,' 'Hugo' and 'Moneyball' Nominated for Cinema Audio Society Awards". The Hollywood Reporter. January 19, 2012. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  14. ^ "Too Big to Fail – Golden Globes". HFPA. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  15. ^ Kilday, Gregg (January 21, 2012). "Producers Guild Awards Name 'The Artist' Motion Picture of Year; 'Boardwalk Empire' Scores TV Drama (Winners List)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  16. ^ "The 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards". Screen Actors Guild Awards. Retrieved May 21, 2016.
  17. ^ "Previous Nominees & Winners: 2012 Awards Winners". Writers Guild Awards. Archived from the original on May 12, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
  18. ^ "Too Big to Fail". Complete Season DVDs. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
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