Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Oe (Ansel Elgort) and Dean (Taron Egerton) went to school on the west coast with rich kids like Biltmores. Joe has the brains and Dean has the gab and connections. They managed to convince their rich friends to invest in their company, the BBC. Investor Ron Levin (Kevin Spacey) invests in the group which includes socializing and investing. Then the scams begin...This was based on a true story, but I never felt the intensity or the climax. The fact that the guys never became famous makes this just another bad investor tale. Guide: F-word, brief sex. No nudity.

This rolls along quite well. It's nicely paced and there are some good performances.It's based on a true story but there the similarity ends because this story is told from the perspective of just one person (who, apparently, is not at all like the real-life character). Consequently the plot line is rather skewed, particularly at the end where it tries to tie everything together. But it doesn't do a very good job, probably because it's trying to tie an ending to a story which didn't happen!The director had a hand in writing this. If you've read any of my other reviews you'll know what I think of writer/directors! - but, apart from the end, this ain't too bad. Apart from the plot flaws.So, it's generally a good watch but ultimately disappointing.

See the original THEN come back and review this one...So Kevin Spacey was good, for what this movie was and Judd Nelson surprised me (not that he was good, just he was in the original). So I read a few of the other reviews and it amazes me no one mentioned that this is a remake. The original with Judd nelson as Joe Hunt was a real story. This movie ran too quickly through everything too quickly. Karney was the mastermind that recruited Joe? 1) He sells a car but you don't see the transaction just a guy saying show me the corvette then skips right to him sitting next to Joe with money 2) They get 3 or 4 cars and then nothing about that venture after 3) WTH is a gold mill? It's never mentioned until they try to get Ron to invest, the initial money was investing in gold, nothing about a mill 4) Seriously, a gold mill is going to crush coal? however, they buy out the company and then nothing again about that deal..how or why did they lose money there?? 5) Tim the doorman? (I know it is not the real name but at least Booker sounded more like a bodyguard hitman name) 6) absolutely NO investigation, just hey, you're under arrest, movie over. 7) Not a single court room scene, just Karney in a room with 2 guys and microphone...he testified in court and it should have been a court scene not a police room scene. Not even the quote from Joe Hunt that was really awesome. (uncertain if he said it or it was for the movie it is still a good one and deserved to be in there) "These are endless galaxies which are yours. You can travel to infinity through the endless passages of the cosmos. Even better this belongs to you. This is your mind."Both movies same time frame, 1 had it all the other skipped everything and the actors....sucked. I didn't believe a single one of them.

Considering this film's runtime is around 100 minutes it felt more like 4 hours.I struggled to find any of the characters engaging or likeable, and so didn't feel invested in the story. After about an hour (or what felt like three), my attention had waivered to the point I was on my phone looking up the real-life story behind the film.Maybe it's just not my type of movie, so give it a go yourself by all means. For me, though, this was instantly forgettable.