9 Classic Banking Movies

Bankruptcy, Robbery, Murder & Bad Ethics - Sound Familiar?

by Chris Tew, February 17, 2009

Bankers and investors are probably among the most hated people around right now. So why not make yourself feel a bit better and watch those financial suits go bankrupt, get robbed or reveal their homicidal tendencies hollywood style!

Credit crunch. Global recession. Whatever you call it, there’s a lot less expendable cash around right now and lots of people are very nervous about the future. More and more people are opting not to go out and spend money on theatre tickets and expensive dinners. Instead, they’re staying in with a movie and a bottle of wine.

But what movies to watch during this time of financial crisis? Given much of the blame is placed on the banks for getting us into this mess, perhaps it’s the perfect time to take stock of some of the greatest banking movies of all time. In many of these films reviewed below the people who are for the banks end up becoming figures of fun, so sit back, open your popcorn, and have a good laugh at some unlucky bankers losing loads of money.

1. Other People's Money (1991)

Danny DeVito plays Larry the Liquidator, a super-rich, arrogant, greedy, self-centred and ruthless business man. He’s the perfect character for a comedy banking movie. As he threatens a hostile take-over of a family-run company, the patriarch of the company enlists the help of his wife's daughter, who is a lawyer, to try and protect their interests.

Larry enjoys sparring with her legal prowess, but does also fall for her. Of course he does – this is a comedy, right? In the end he has to decide whether he’s driven most by love or money. Director: Norman Jewison Stars: Danny DeVito, Gregory Peck, Penelope Ann Miller

2. Wall Street (1987)

Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) is an ambitious Wall Street stockbroker in the 1980s. Any spare time he has is spent working an on angle with which to approach the high-powered, extremely successful broker Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas). Fox finally meets with the greedy Gekko, who takes the youth under his wing and explains his philosophy: Greed is Good.

Taking this advice and working closely with Gekko, Fox soon finds himself swept into a world of yuppies, shady business deals, fast money, and fast women - something at odds with his family values. Director: Oliver Stone Stars: Charlie Sheen, Martin Sheen, Michael Douglas

3. Rogue Trader (1999)

This movie charts the true story of Barings Bank clerk and ambitious wide-boy Nick Leeson. Through a series of peculiar coincidences, he finds himself in Singapore setting up the bank’s future options trading operation. To save money Barings allows Nick to operate both the floor trading and the back office facilities and forces him to employ cheap, unskilled staff. Of course, Nick breaks trading rules and secretly covers up some losses, but his initial reports back to the bank are of success.

Given more freedom, even more money and continuing unchecked, Nick makes bigger losses and again attempts to trade out of them. But after a series of huge losses and irresponsible gambling of other people's money he manages to bankrupt the entire institution. A lesson in how not to trade. Director: James Dearden Stars: Ewan McGregor, Anna Friel

4. Boiler Room (2000)

Seth Davis (Giovanni Ribisi) is an enterprising college dropout, running his own small illegal casino. The disapproval of his domineering father leads Seth to a career change into the investment business with a bunch of cocky, young Turks who seem to be making a lot more money than they should on mysterious investments pushed through aggressive cold calling.

At the same time, he finds a relationship forming with firm secretary, Abbie (Nia Long), who as luck would have it, was also formerly pursued by his new boss, which adds to the tensions of the high pressure job and mysterious profits. Director: Ben Younger Stars: Ben Affleck, Vin Diesel, Giovani Ribisi, Nia Long

5. The Italian Job (1969)

Everyone loves a good bank robbery movie, of which the The Italian Job is quite possibly the finest and most famous. This infamous comedy movie tells the story of an ex-con who tries to steal $4 million in gold by causing a major traffic jam in the centre of Turin. With its mini coopers, jaguars, bus and famous one-liners, this is a true British film classic. Director: Peter Collinson Stars: Michael Caine, Noel Coward

6. Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

This true story is set in San Francisco in 1981. Christopher Gardner has big dreams for his family, but it just never seems to work out. He invests the family savings in new bone-density scanning technology – apparatus twice as expensive as x-ray with practically the same resolution.

The white elephant financially breaks the family, bringing troubles to Gardner’s relationship with his wife. Without money and wife, but totally committed with his son, Christopher sees the chance to fight for a stockbroker internship position at Dean Witter, disputing for one career in the end of six months training period without any salary with other twenty candidates. Meanwhile, homeless, he has all sorts of difficulties with his son. Does he find happiness? Director: Gabriele Muccino Stars: Will Smith, Thandie Newton, Dan Castellaneta

7. American Psycho (2000)

This isn’t necessarily a banking movie, more a movie about a banking character. Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is a wealthy 26-year-old, succesful investment banker in New York. He’s well-educated, intelligent and has more money than he knows what to do with: this is a guy who couldn't care any less about cash back credit cards.

But there’s a terrible dark side to his personality as by night he turns into a homicidal monster whose hatred for the world leads him into murderous chaos. The movie is based on a novel by Brett Easton Ellis. The graphic scenes of sex and violence in the movie are much more tame than in the original book. Director: Mary Harron Stars: Christian Bale, Reese Witherspoon, Jared Leto

8. Barbarians at the Gate (1993)

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This comedy television movie tells the story of an eager tobacco business CEO who plans to buy out the rest of the shareholders in his firm. After a series of confusing deals and potential takeovers, the tenders get messier (and funnier) as the zeros keep getting added. The film follows the actual takeover of the RJR Nabisco empire in a tongue in cheek way. The film’s tagline was, aptly: after a power breakfast they’ll still eat you for lunch. Director: Glenn Jordan Stars: James Garner, Jonathan Pryce

9. Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Bonnie (small town girl) and Clyde (drifting bank robber) dream of lives that will free them from the Depression of the 1920s. The two fall in love and begin a banking crime spree from Oklahoma to Texas. They rob small banks with skill and panache, soon becoming minor celebrities known across the country.

People are proud to have been held up by Bonnie and Clyde: to their victims, the duo is doing what nobody else has the guts to do, but to the law, the two are evil bank robbers who deserve to be gunned down where they stand. An American classic. Director: Arthur Penn Stars: Warren Featty, Faye Dunnaway, Gene Hackman

Blogger Suggestions:

Trading Places (1983) - Lots of banking and whatnot there, a homeless con artist who becomes a Wall Street robber baron. Thanks Daniel of Film Babble
The Bank (2001) - writer-director Robert Connolly's drama (an Australian film), about a young mathematician Jim Doyle (David Wenham), and arrogant Centrabank CEO Simon O’Reily (Anthony LaPaglia) in Melbourne Australia. Doyle was hired to predict the gyrations of the stock market and put the bank in the black. Thanks Tim of Film Site
It's a Wonderful Life (1946) - You wanna talk bad ethics, banking, and death? Think It's A Wonderful Life. A story of an angel helping a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would have been like if he never existed. Thanks Dave3 of Geeks of Doom.
The Bank Job (2008) - Deals with the real life fallout of stolen political and royal secrets after a bank heist in the UK in the 70's.
The International (2009) - They control your money. They control your government. They control your life. And everybody pays. Thanks Garth of Dark Horizons

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