I would like to grade this movie as B

A compelling HBO original movie centered on the 2008 financial crisis, including the sacrificing of Lehman Brothers and the devising of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Conservatively and confidently directed by Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential, 8 Mile), the film has an extensive, all-star cast, including William Hurt as Henry Paulson, Ed Asner as Warren Buffett, Billy Crudup as Timothy Geithner, Paul Giamatti as Ben Bernanke, Topher Grace as Jim Wilkinson, Bill Pullman as Jamie Dimon, and James Woods as Richard S. Fuld Jr.

Too Big to Fail overcomes several obstacles--incredibly complex subject matter, the fact men in suits meeting in stately boardrooms to discuss finance isn't inherently dramatic--and manages to be entertaining and informative in equal measure. The jaw-dropping ensemble cast Hanson has assembled certainly helps, especially since Peter Gould's screenplay, based on the book “Too Big to Fail” by Andrew Ross Sorkin, isn't exactly heavy on character development. The minute Woods goes on a sarcastic, smug, profanity-laden tirade, or Hurt sighs and stares pensively out a window, you are keyed into these men and have a general idea what to expect from them. And the film quickly plunges each into verbal battle.

There will still be those who find this kind of material boring, and no amount of dramatic music or shots of sharply dressed men moving with vicious purpose down hallways will change this, but those interested in recent financial history--or just in search of an intelligent, contemporary piece of entertainment--will be well served by Too Big to Fail.

B+