Spikeopath
I don't have youth on my side, as regards Nick Leeson's quote that headlines this small review, but I was hungry for a good film and I didn't have a clue about what it would be like!Rogue Trader is the story of how wide boy Nick Leeson brought about the downfall of Barings Merchant Bank, one of the most financially historical institutions in London. A fictionalised adaptation from Leeson's own autobiography, the potential for a potent insight into insider trading et al is wasted. Instead we get a film of baffling trader chatter, newspaper like direction from James Dearden, and performances outside of Ewan McGregor as Leeson, that are distinctly unbelievable.Those who work in the industry this involves are sure to find some rewards, but to the outsiders peeking in to hopefully learn whist being entertained, it's a damp financial squib. 5/10
strikerman
A great portrayal of Nick Leeson's life. The beginning as a small lackey, only good for debt collections where he satisfied his bosses, the career jump to the head of a small share trader group, executing trades for customers of the Barrings Bank ending in total chaos because of too risky trades on behalf of the bank. At first Leeson decided only for the quite riskless arbitrage, but later he started with enormous speculations on currencies losing about one billion dollars and causes the bankruptcy of the traditional Barrings Bank. Of course the managers of Barings in London didn't stop Leasons business in Southeast Asia as long as his trades were successful, despite he was the head trader and inspector of his own business, which nobody could understand. At the end Leeson was a victim of hubris and misbelief in his own abilities, a deeply human misbehavior. I think director James Dearden could not have find a better actor than Ewan McGregor for the role of Nic Leeson. His acting was realistic and of course his appearance as a banker was great. A successful and well-made film.
parhat
When the movie was first out, Ewan MacGregor was a total unknown, until of course the Star Wars prequels came out. Then at the time stock markets was in the boom and the bust were, just something to be ignored. That was basically what happened when the movie was first out. This movie should mellow and get better reviews. At the time, it was therefore not well received, now many years later 2007. I have a chance to look and their risk control in derivatives trading were shockingly non existent and being in the stock market myself it is no wonder the Barings Bank get busted not as soon as they should. Lack of auditing, lack of controls, risk psychology, doubling up, and not learning from mistakes are all signs of absolute disaster. Learn from this movie, while not as funny as Trading Places, this is the story as close as a real bust might have occurred. A good learning experience, even if Nick Leeson is not learning his Lessons.
sveknu
I don't know if Nick Leeson deserved this movie. A man who almost single-handedly made one of Britains big banks bankrupt couldn't be as "innocent" as portrayed in this movie? Or?I didn't know any of the details in the Barings Bank-bankrupcy. I think that helped me in enjoying this movie, because it was quite entertaining. I'm no expert in how trading takes place in the stock market and physically at the stock exchange either. I think that helped too, because I've heard from people who know a lot about it that the way this is portrayed in the movie isn't very realistic. But, as mentioned, I didn't have to worry about that.If you'd like a thriller about financial problems and crimes (a really small genre) I thing you'll enjoy this one. Normal people have no problem in understanding what's happening in the movie.
AD
