Equity

equity

It's a woman oriented financial film drama directed by a woman filmmaker. That makes it empowered by women. On the perspective it was my first experience, so I think it could be the only of its kind. It is not as bad as it looks, those who liked financial related films like 'Margin Call', 'The Big Short', 'Glengarry Glen Ross' et cetera would enjoy it as well. This film stayed true to its title, so that's what you are going to expect, but nothing a bit more than that. There are unexpected turns in the narration. Particularly the characters, that too the females. It is about the commitment and trust in the colleagues. No matter what you do, the company always judges you by your result. The pace might look slow, but it gets better in the latter half. The film turned into kind of thriller and ended with a little drag, though satisfying. Anna Gunn was so good and looks like we have here another talented woman director Meera Menon. This film did not get as popular as its counterpart on the same theme, I mean men's Wall Street thriller. But somewhat I liked it and seems a sequel is not a bad idea, after how this story had ended. Finally, this is for the selected viewers, so those who are from the outside of its bandwidth won't end watching it happy, hence the film will lose its rating, but not the quality. 6/10

Naomi Bishop (Anna Gunn) is the perfect prototype of the fearlessly ambitious women in corporate America today. Written by Sarah Megan Thomas (who also plays the supporting character Erin Manning), Naomi Bishop pulls no punches about her love for money and the power and security she wants all for herself. Anna Gunn gives a remarkable performance which thankfully puts to bed her role as whining Skyler White (Breaking Bad). The movie touches upon all the pitfalls a woman must skirt in order to get to the top of the cutthroat investment banking world although the over the top seduction of a young broker by Federal Prosecutor Samantha (Alysia Reiner)was painful to watch. "Equity" stands out for its revealing portrayal of unabashed greed that has crashed through the nurturing and loving image maintained (or perhaps foisted upon) women in the Western world.

I cannot understand how a movie like this gets a 81% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The characters are under-developed, the movie is slow paced even though it's meant to be a thriller. To top all of this the director while trying to create strong female characters has included all the society stereotypes women face (just for the sake of it) ex.The lesbian relationship between the two characters. This movie is feminist to the core. If the director really wanted to show strong female leads then she should've learned it from Katherine Bigelow. The only good things about this movie is a powerful performance by Anna Gunn and an above average performance by Alysia Reiner. A star for this. 2nd star for the story (not the execution) And 3rd for the effort it took to make this movie.

No spoiler alert here, no plot or story line exists to spoil Watching Gunn is painful, it was in breaking bad bad still is. Equity has the thinnest if plots, the worst acting, and the worst continuity. Each segment is brief, the connection between each is choppy, the external references they use to pull a plot out of thin air fail. It's as if they are reading a series of news clips. And the home if the suspect hedge fund guy? It seems a bit cheap for even a guy trying to hide his wealth. What gives? The most engaging part is the quest to get the goods on mister hedge fund. There is some moments of actual acting. No doubt the outcome is the results of a poorly crafted plot and dialog. The bit if charm that tries to show through is suppressed by terrible dialog. Skip this movie. It's painful to watching

Loved this fast fun Wall Street thriller - powerful roles and sharp dialogue! If you like House of Cards, you'll love this, and not just for the super-charged female leads. Its intelligent and fast-paced, but also thought provoking and full of financial shenanigans. I saw some negative reviews and don't understand why - unless from someone who doesn't like to use his brain at a movie. Or maybe just some people who don't like to see successful women. But you don't even realize that during the movie - there are clearly real life ethical dilemmas, and realistic Wall Street situations. You know you wouldn't stab someone, but tough to decide how you might handle these situations...

Greetings again from the darkness. A film made by women in a male-dominated profession about women in a (different) male-dominated profession becomes the first female-centric Wall Street movie. Director Meera Menon (Farah Goes Bang) and writers Amy Fox, Sarah Megan Thomas and Alysia Reiner have a lot to say … maybe even more than they intended. Anna Gunn ("Breaking Bad") delivers a strong lead performance as Naomi Bishop, a hard-driving and successful investment banker - a self-described "banker chick". She's coming off a failed client IPO – her biggest career failure. Naomi basically torments and disrespects her first assistant Erin (Sarah Megan Thomas), and she regularly sleeps with a co-worker and hedge fund manager Michael Connor (James Purefoy) for the benefits only. In other words, Naomi is much like the men we have seen in these roles over the years. While pursuing her next IPO with a hotshot d-bag tech entrepreneur (Samuel Roukin as Ed) who claims to have a revolutionary impenetrable cyberware, Naomi is unwittingly (although it could be argued that she SHOULD have known) being played by multiple parties. One of these is a Justice Department investigator (Alysia Reiner as Samantha) who is trying to use their old college connection as a way to gather intel on Naomi's firm and Michael Connor. Adding complexity and turmoil are Craig Bierko as an egotistical investor who pressures Michael for insider info, Sophie von Hasselberg (Marin) who is a disgruntled programmer for Ed's company, and Tracie Thoms as Samantha's partner and co-parent of their kids. Fractured relationships abound as all characters are driven by something other than the relationships. We are told "money is not a dirty word", but it sure seems like motivation for these folks is centered on power, ambition, and yes … money. The social issues and moral dilemmas come across as less important than the challenge of competing (rather than collaborating). Seamless backstabbing is a valued skill in this world, and always present are greed, desperation and paranoia. This is post-2008 Wall Street, but it looks pretty darned familiar. Previous films have taken us inside this world. Wall Street (1987), Margin Call (2011), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), and The Big Short (2015) each provided some lesson on this corrupt-to-the-core industry and helped us understand the dual meaning of the title, but this is the first to show us the women who fight the same fights. If there is a disappointment here, it's the apparent conclusion that putting women in the same high-stakes game as men means they will compete in much the same way, rather than finding a better, more graceful way. Gordon Gekko may not have been right when he said "greed is good", but it seems pretty clear that greed is prevalent. It's a lesson we evidently must be reminded of on a regular basis … and whatever you do, make sure to count the chocolate chips before giving that cookie to Naomi!

When Breaking Bad (2008-2013) ended after an impressive run of unprecedented critical and cultural acclaim, something seemed to have been lost in the post-mourning debrief. Brewing since season 2, throngs of fans came forward to proclaim Anna Gunn's Skyler White as among the most hated characters on TV ever. It got so bad that Gunn even wrote an op-ed in the New York Times defending Skyler. "I'm concerned that so many people react to Skyler with such venom. Could it be that they can't stand a woman who won't suffer silently or "stand by her man"? That they despise her because she won't back down or give up? Or because she is, in fact, Walter's equal?" she wrote. I for one was a big fan of Skyler, as I was of all the familiar heroes and villains on that show. Her shrewish wife turned dark and corrupted equal was the kind of complex character arc as to be expected from the "best show on TV." Naomi Bishop (Gunn) isn't corruptible in the first moments of Equity; she's already an insatiable crook. "I like money - like knowing I have it," she says with a Gordon Gekko matter-of-factness. Given her job, a Senior Investment Banker to a large firm, loving money is probably a prerequisite. Yet associates and CEOs looking to make their companies public agree, her ambition and cold demeanor "...rubs people the wrong way." Much like Skyler, Naomi is put in an impossible scenario, trying to make money for her bosses while unwilling to conform to certain expectations i.e. be motherly or coquettish. Its clear without it being explicit - no man would be put in her shoes. Yet Equity is not a provocation, it tells the story straight, leaving the gender politics where it should be: in the analysis where it can cause more disruption. What we have instead is a high- stakes game of Russian roulette told with the same discursive simmer as Michael Clayton (2007). While some may find this tact prosaic, there's no doubting it feels real. Plus with the help of Naomi's hubris, we see the Jenga tower of her life weaken and teeter; much like any well made character study. Helping in her demise are fellow women Erin (Thomas) and Samantha (Reiner). Unlike Naomi, Erin has long conformed to expectations and wears herself with a composed flirtatiousness that investors find reassuring. Her inner conflict, much like her outward appearance is showy but shallow in a "women can't have everything" kind of way. You'd think with screen time so evenly divided among Erin and Naomi, she'd be more interesting, but her moments only make the audience aware of how sluggish the editing is. Samantha likewise creates a lot of grief for Naomi though thankfully none for the film. Samantha works for the District Attorneys Office and confidently sets her white-collar crime sniffing snout on Naomi's main squeeze, Michael Connor (Purefoy). Not only does she prove resourceful in a pinch, Samantha's natural likability proves an asset when she occasionally reveals too much. If she were, say, a supporting cast member on an HBO series, I'd watch. The men of Equity fair just as well as supporting cast. James Purefoy exudes a certain smiley, understated nihilism while Craig Bierko is perfectly smarmy as Michael's hedge fund friend Benji. On the other hand poor Nate Corddry seems destined to play the helpless, baby- faced rube from now until he's old enough to play the suspect on Law and Order (1990-2010) spin-offs. He's okay I suppose but in a tank full of sharks, he's a bit of a guppy. Equity is, when all is said and done, an actor's showcase for the refined Anna Gunn who not only leans into her unapologetic tigress routine but hints at deeper instincts and talents. Additionally, Equity is also a good movie written and directed by women, about women and for women. Its mere existence is an attack on patriarchy but not the full frontal kind. The kind that sneaks through the back door and right before slicing throats in the night says, "I'm better than you."

Not sure why this movie was so bad. Perhaps the slow pace and the enforced slow dialogue. Perhaps the bad acting. In either or both cases this movie should be given a wide berth. I loved Anna Gunn in Breaking bad, in fact she was instrumental in it's popularity but I watched a different actress here. Her interpretation in this 'Wall St' type movie was simply awful. Totally unbelievable. I always turn off movies when the leading lady has either Botoxed lips or stupidly unreal white teeth, for some reason I can't take it serious from that point on. So many women in the industry feel the need to wreck their natural looks. Anyhow, back to the movie, I dare anyone to watch Gunn's on-screen divorced husband acting out a serious scene and avoid breaking out into laughter at his facial expressions. Again terrible acting. This movie could have been interesting but the casting director had lost his marbles. The writing was drawn out and laboured with far too many close up 'still life' moments. Take heed, it's valuable time you are wasting if you labour through this stuff.

Excellent! A unique point-of-view. This is not just a slice of life; this is the drama of life that makes us think as we are entertained. The actors and producers should take a bow. As Equity moves around America and the world, I believe it will grow an audience as a business grows its customers, winning them one man or woman at a time. I also hope theater patrons take their teenagers who will enter the work force soon. Shatter glass ceilings. Draw talent together where it will make us proud to be equal corporate citizens again. As our alarms ring us awake and onto subways, ferries or roadways, we want to lead the world as developers of ideas and products, not stranglers of enthusiasm because of power and greed. Add Equity to your calendar.