Margin Call is currently a Filmgood article nominee.Nominated byW9793 (talk) at 02:55, 16 February 2025 (UTC) An editor has placed this article on hold to allow improvements to be made to satisfy thegood article criteria. Recommendations have been left onthe review page, and editors have seven days to address these issues. Improvements made in this period will influence the reviewer's decision whether or not to list the article as agood article. Short description: 2011 film by J. C. Chandor

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As far as I read the hole digging scene, it was his ex-wife's front yard. That's why she locked the door after leaving him to finish burying the dog. Changing it until someone else has a better suggestion.--Senor Freebie (talk)19:50, 31 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

"Robertson, Cohen, and Tuld were aware of the risks". I don't get it, why did they decideto take action now? Because of the USB ?Preroll (talk)16:01, 15 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Because enough people now know about it that rumours are bound to leak out, and they can no longer risk saying "hmm" and enjoy the illusory profits rolling in on their worthless holdings.Paulturtle (talk)19:48, 17 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Goldman Sachs or Lehman Brothers? It seemed to me that this was based on the issue of packaging mortgage based securities, something most of the big investment firms were doing and that it was based around an early mover who got out without losing too big. Of course that's just conjecture but has anyone who worked on the film given us a source to say it was Lehman Brothers?--Senor Freebie (talk)17:33, 2 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

At this point it is all conjecture. The CEO "John Tuld" is a reference to Lehman CEO Dick Fuld, while Sarah Robertson probably is based on Erin Callan, Lehman's CFO who was forced out as a sacrificial lamb. But at the end the firm looks like it will survive and even prosper after the crisis hits, so in that sense it looks more like Goldman or one of the other survivors.— Precedingunsigned comment added by160.39.213.160 (talk)05:30, 3 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

The article as currently written makes it seem as though it's fact that the firm is based on Goldman. Seems more like conjecture, in which case the article should reflect uncertainty about this.— Precedingunsigned comment added byJames.johndrow (talk •contribs)03:44, 29 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

In a former version of the script dated 13 July 2009(found here) the fictious bank is called "GOLDSTONE STERNS INVESTMENT BANK" (first time on page 2) which seems to allude to Goldman Sachs and Bear Stearns. In a later version of the script from July 2010 (available on IMSDB) and in the film itself the bank does not have a name, probably to avoid legal issues. In his comment on the DVD JC Chandor mentions how careful they had to be with the logo of the fictious bank that was used in the film.JoMark (talk)20:38, 5 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

UserSegodno (talk ·contribs) keeps deleting the budget from theThe Hollywood Reporter ($3.5 million) because it's an "approximation" but instead adds budget figures from IMDb,Click Online,Variagate.com, ($3,395,000) which of course notnot reliable sources. They also added The Numbers budget figure ($3.4 million), but I believe the THR figure trumps all the above sites. They disagree and will not allow a reliable source to be added for the budget. —Mike Allen20:31, 6 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

UserSegodno (talk ·contribs) said, that More than 90 % of sites on the Internet give figure $ 3,395,000, and only 1 site - The Hollywood Reporter gives $3.5 million. Following the sensible logic it is necessary to trust in 90 percent, than a site which gives only approximation !!

If there is no other reliable source saying $3,395,000, then go with the Hollywood Reporter. That includes making sure sites are not quoting IMDB, which is user submitted information.  BIGNOLE (Contact me)

I think it will be better to white consensus figure $3,4- $3,5 millionSegodno

We don't create a consensus to use an unreliable figure simply because you want to use it. If there is no reliable source citing it, then we're not going to use it.  BIGNOLE (Contact me)22:38, 6 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I;ve never heard of most of those sites so I can't judge them but IMDb is less reliable than a school newspaper and should not be cited at all for anything meaningfulDarkwarriorblake (talk)22:50, 6 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I don't refer to IMDB.comSegodno

FurtherBox Office Mojo just updated their site to match the $3.5 million budget. I think we can now agree to leave it as $3.5 million. —Mike Allen02:45, 7 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

• First of all the Hollywood Reporteris a reliable source. Secondly, since producers don't release budget accounts to the general public, then we have to accept that they are only reporting estimates, so naturally there can be discrepencies between reliable sources. TheNY Times] also reports a $3.5 million figure too, so the 3.5 figure should definitely be included. There is evidence for the 3.4 figure though: theWall Street Journal (a highly reputable source) puts the budget at $3.4 million; the LA Times on the otherhand quotes both figures in different stories, both in the last month:$3.4 million and$3.5 million. In view of that, and since there isn't strong reason to view one as correct and the other as wrong, I recommend a $3.4–3.5 million budget range.Betty Logan (talk)06:50, 7 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  • Sounds good. Thanks Betty. —Mike Allen07:33, 7 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

• • that is what I was Talking about !!! what was the purpose to argue ??Segodno
    • Because you were not talking about including reliable sources. —Mike Allen18:47, 7 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

In the revision as of 21:37, 26 November 2011 someone changed the film's timespan from 24 to 36 hours citingthis source. In the script (a version from 2009 anda version from July 2010) the story obviously starts around 4 p.m. and ends 24 hours later. Only the very last scene is set at 11 p.m. In the film it is the same. Assuming that the last scene in the film is at 11. p.m. 36 hours would imply a beginning at 11 a.m. and there is absolutely nothing in the beginning of the film to suggest that the film is deviating from the script and beginning before lunch.

I suggest going back to 24 hours in the text because that's when the real story unfolds, from first job cut to the next.

My guess is that the 36 hours cited are a typo in the source. In the interview on the DVD JC Chandor speaks of 25 to 26 hours, so the last number could have turned to 36 in the article.JoMark (talk)22:00, 5 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

In the DVD interview, J. C. Chandor says: "Over a twenty-seven or 28 hour period, we watch [one piece of information from an individual very low down on a power structure] travel through eight or nine people up the chain of command and ... what that one piece of information does to each of their lives." It's not clear at what time the final scene—involving Sam and his ex-wife—takes place other than that it's at night. (The more recent of the two scripts referred to does state "11:00 PM", but it's the film's final cut that matters.) The source cited to support the 36-hours time span in fact states that the action takes place "within a 36-hour period of [Chandor's] characters' lives." It doesn't say that the time spanis 36 hours.

By contrast, it's clear from the film itself that the principal action takes place over a period of not much over 24 hours. It's worth noting also that the final scene is, according to Chandor's DVD commentary, "clearly an epilogue". Moreover, the whole point of mentioning the story's time span in the article is presumably to reflect the film's tracking of the rapidity of the financial crisis-related events.

Presently, the article states: "The story takes place over a 36-hour period". I'll therefore amend it according to what's known and what's important; that is, that the principal story takes place over 24 hours.Pololei (talk)00:53, 8 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The article references 2 conversations that Eric Dale has when he is fired from the firm. The first is in his exit interview with representatives from human resources. They represent Dale's former employer. The second is with Peter when Dale is being escorted out. Peter used to work for Dale in risk management and would be Dale's former employee. The article currently incorrectly states that Dale's first conversation is with a former employee.CFredkin (talk)21:08, 6 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

That wasn't my recollection... Although, if you've just watched it, you're probably right. Been a while since I've seen it.Tiller54 (talk)00:49, 7 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Could someone explain why the CEO (played by Irons) gave a check to Roger (Spacey) who refused to accept. What the latter should have done and didn't?79.3.15.227 (talk)21:11, 10 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Presumably to get him to shut up, stay on board and co-operate wholeheartedly with the plan to dump the bank's holdings of toxic credit derivatives. Hence, straight afterwards, the little scene in the car park when Simon Baker asks Bettany if he will "step up to the plate" if Spacey doesn't - had he said yes, Spacey's "resignation" would presumably have been announced straightaway. But Bettany sees straight through his game, so that's that, presumably because he and Spacey go back a long way together and in corporate politics, as in other kinds, you have to know who to trust.Paulturtle (talk)19:54, 17 May 2016 (UTC)[reply]

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The exact job description of Kevin Spacey's character is, I think, never specified.

The article said he was "Head of Sales", which I think is nonsense - and why would the head of a trading desk (Bettaney/Emerson) report to him if that is his role? At one point Jeremy Irons says to him that they both come from a sales background, which is a slightly different thing. We know that he is in his fifties (has been at the bank for thirty-odd years) and that he and Irons/Tuld "go back a long way".

I rather get the impression he might be head of the trading floor (maybe covering FX, rates, commodities and credit) - at some point in the film we are told that there is another trading floor in New York besides "his" (the other would presumably be for cash equities, which are kept segregated because of the dangers of insider dealing) as well as other floors around the globe. Or he might be Global Head of Credit Trading (or Structured Products Trading, or whatever), with other credit trading units around the globe reporting to him.

But I don't think we are told.Paulturtle (talk)21:58, 17 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The movie is currently free with ads on Youtube, by the way.

I dunno if Eric Dale (Stanley Tucci's character)'s way with numbers could be mentioned; it's a funny thing. In one scene he muses out a number of calculations of the cumulative hours of travel time, then years, then human lifetime equivalents saved by the construction of a Ohio River bridge that he designed as an engineer in 1976, "22 years ago". In another, when sitting down with Demi Moore's character, for them both to be isolated from outside contact for the trading day, he wryly mentions he would either be hassled over his separation terms for years, or he could sit there and earn $176,471 per hour that day.

But I have a question about what he calculates there. If they were sitting down at 6:30 am, the time that he was to be brought back to the offices and also the regular time of the sales meeting to be led by Sam (which is the next scene), and if the trading day was until 4:00pm as it is today for the New York Stock Exchange, that would be 9.5 hours x 176,471/hr = $1,676,474.50. But 8.5 hours would make more sense, as 8.5 x $176,471 is a round $1,500,000. His being paid from 7:30 to 4:00 doesn't make sense. Was it not the New York Stock exchange, open 930-4pm nowadays, or were the NYSE hours different? The New York Mercantile Exchange hours nowadays are 8:20 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Is/was there a mortgage-backed securities trading exchange that closed at 3:00?

Anyhow hisnumerosity(?) is a funny schtick. --Doncram (talk,contribs)21:43, 7 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I'm hoping to bring the page to GA status and wonder if anyone else would be interested to help? Thanks.W9793 (talk)22:16, 19 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This review istranscluded fromTalk:Margin Call/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Nominator:W9793 (talk ·contribs)02:55, 16 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Reviewer:Trailblazer101 (talk·contribs)09:05, 18 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

GA review (seehere for what the criteria are, andhere for what they are not)
It isreasonably well written. a(prose, spelling, and grammar): b(MoS forlead,layout,word choice,fiction, andlists): It isfactually accurate andverifiable, as shown by asource spot-check. a(references): b(citations toreliable sources): c(OR): d(copyvio andplagiarism): It isbroad in its coverage. a(major aspects): b(focused): It follows theneutral point of view policy. Fair representation without bias: It isstable. No edit wars, etc.: It is illustrated byimages, where possible and appropriate. a(images are tagged and non-free images havefair use rationales): b(appropriate use withsuitable captions):
Overall: Pass/Fail:
· · ·

hi @Trailblazer101, just wanted to check on this review, it's been nearly a month and there's no activity on it. are you still planning on reviewing this?--Plifal (talk)10:24, 14 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Seeing no response I'm placing this back in the queue.Wizardman02:15, 30 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This review istranscluded fromTalk:Margin Call/GA2. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Nominator:W9793 (talk ·contribs)02:55, 16 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Reviewer:TonyTheTiger (talk·contribs)16:30, 2 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• I feel thias should be an interesting article to me since I have an MBA and have spent time on Wall Street.-TonyTheTiger(T /C /WP:FOUR /WP:CHICAGO /WP:WAWARD)16:30, 2 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
• Also note that this is one of the two reviews I will do as part of myWP:GARP forCity Landscape-TonyTheTiger(T /C /WP:FOUR /WP:CHICAGO /WP:WAWARD)16:33, 2 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

GA review (seehere for what the criteria are, andhere for what they are not)

1. It isreasonably well written.

   a(prose, spelling, and grammar): b(MoS forlead,layout,word choice,fiction, andlists):

   TheWP:LEAD either needs to follow the fully cited or the fully uncited format. Every fact in the main body is supposed to be associated with aWP:IC from aWP:RS. The LEAD is suppose to summarize the main body with important facts and summary. The content of the LEAD can not have{{cn}} templates and can not be partly cited. Either all or none. You can't have sentences dangling at the end of paragraphs without citation but have sentences earlier in the same paragraph with citations.-TonyTheTiger(T /C /WP:FOUR /WP:CHICAGO /WP:WAWARD)21:11, 3 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

2. It isfactually accurate andverifiable, as shown by asource spot-check.

   a(reference section): b(inline citations toreliable sources): c(OR): d(copyvio andplagiarism):

   1{{cn}} tag.-TonyTheTiger(T /C /WP:FOUR /WP:CHICAGO /WP:WAWARD)21:23, 3 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

3. It isbroad in its coverage.

   a(major aspects): b(focused):

   I am a bit surprised to see a single Academy Award nomination, no Golden Globes and no Screen Actors Guilds. So are there sources that were surprised it got an Oscar nomination after not getting any GG or SAG recognition. Are there sources that were surprised it did not get more major nominations given it got NYFCC and SFFCC awards? When it won those awards had they stated expected a slate of expected nominations. Was there any commentary of it being shafted for being an independent film?-TonyTheTiger(T /C /WP:FOUR /WP:CHICAGO /WP:WAWARD)21:23, 3 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

   Also, there does not seem to be any production history of when people signed on, rights negotiations, or any filming permissions. Searching "Margin Call" site:variety.com yields a lot of production history: that is not included in the article. E.g.,this,this, andthis are three with facts not discussed. Other stuff with "Margin Call" site:hollywoodreporter.com. E.g., what aboutthis story. Article is way to short for a movie with this much acclaim.-TonyTheTiger(T /C /WP:FOUR /WP:CHICAGO /WP:WAWARD)21:31, 3 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

   A couple popped out at "Margin Call" site:nytimes.com searchthis andthis.-TonyTheTiger(T /C /WP:FOUR /WP:CHICAGO /WP:WAWARD)21:49, 3 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

   Since it only had one major nomination, I would point out its NYFCC and SFFCC awards in the LEAD just to raise it above run of the mill films.-TonyTheTiger(T /C /WP:FOUR /WP:CHICAGO /WP:WAWARD)21:44, 3 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

4. It follows theneutral point of view policy.

   Fair representation without bias:

5. It isstable.

   No edit wars, etc.:

6. It is illustrated byimages and other media, where possible and appropriate.

   a(images are tagged and non-free content havenon-free use rationales): b(appropriate use withsuitable captions):

   All these major stars and important locations with no pictures included. I think that is a bit lazy.-TonyTheTiger(T /C /WP:FOUR /WP:CHICAGO /WP:WAWARD)21:35, 3 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for reviewing! I will implement soon.W9793 (talk)03:40, 5 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

User:W9793, Progress?-TonyTheTiger(T /C /WP:FOUR /WP:CHICAGO /WP:WAWARD)12:49, 21 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@TonyTheTiger - Will get to these in the coming two weeks! Thank you for your patience.W9793 (talk)04:44, 22 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

User:W9793, update?-TonyTheTiger(T /C /WP:FOUR /WP:CHICAGO /WP:WAWARD)12:04, 4 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hi @TonyTheTiger - have made some changes following your feedback, hoping to revise the lead and add production history by this weekend. I only found one picture in Commons (added to article) - if you have suggestions for potential additional ones to add, please let me know. Thanks,W9793 (talk)12:39, 4 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

1. Overall:

   Pass/Fail:

• Good article nominees
• Good article nominees currently on hold
• Good article nominees on review
• B-Class film articles
• B-Class American cinema articles
• American cinema task force articles
• WikiProject Film articles
• B-Class New York City articles
• Low-importance New York City articles
• WikiProject New York City articles
• B-Class Finance & Investment articles
• Low-importance Finance & Investment articles
• WikiProject Finance & Investment articles