Review of Equity (2016) by Spangle — 13 Jan 2017

Equity feels like a debut from director Meera Menon and though it is not, it does still highlight a certain rawness. The characters are there. The themes are there. The story is there. Yet, it does not all come together. It feels agonizingly close, but perhaps with her next feature, Menon will be able to put the whole puzzle together. As is stands, Equity is an average financial thriller with themes that are far too on the nose and in your face for the film to be both a successful financial thriller and feminist success story. In fact, it almost feels like these two facets of the film are fighting against one another, struggling to see which one will be the center of attention.

The financial thriller element of the film could use some work, but is intriguing. For such a complicated world, Menon does not offer any explanation to the viewer as to what is occurring. Compared to successful financial-based thrillers in recent years such as The Wolf of Wall Street or The Big Short, Equity is a bit confusing. Yet, it is largely about insider trading surrounding the launch of a new IPO. Being handled by an underwriter (whatever that is) portrayed by Anna Gunn, the launch is filled with controversy and tension. The film has a slow build-up, however, and this is another detriment. While the film's complex build-up has a decent enough pay-off, it takes far too long to actually get to the point. That said, the tension is well earned and the film does really ramp up the intrigue towards the end, even if the reason everything blows up really does not work and conflicts with theme of the film. However, I will get into that soon. As a film, it feels stretched too thin and the plot could have been handled a bit quicker and instead, it adds in filler to make it longer. Fortunately, a solid ending does help me to look past some of its missteps in the beginning.

Thematically, the film is about women in a boys club environment. Aiming for empowerment and showing that women can be just as greedy and cutthroat as the men, the film is most successful. Naomi Bishop (Gunn) is a **** She is unlikable, through and through. If she was a man, she would be just as easy to hate. It is not because of her greed, but rather her self-assured and belief that she knows better than anybody else in the room. Her VP, Erin Manning (Sarah Megan Thomas), wants a promotion. However, Naomi leads her on for years and Erin is done. As such, she leaks bad information about the IPO to have it tank and embarrass Naomi to the point she may be fired. Along the way, Erin tells her boyfriend and Naomi to not "tell me I what I need", even to innocent suggestions by the former to get some more sleep. It is these little feminist dialogue elements that quickly become intolerable. I am a feminist, but this film just smacks of being so in your face with its themes that it is incapable of stopping to actually craft dialogue that is not derived from some third wave feminist blog where all men are evil pigs. This really is shown by all men in the film being characterized as anti-female, philanderers, and using women for their own gain. The women, meanwhile, are treated with kid gloves. Naomi is a **** Yet, Menon asks us to forgive her and see how hard she works, only for Erin to cut her throat. However, Naomi asks for it by being abrasive in meetings while Erin is more personable and capable of actually explaining things. Instead, Naomi sits in her high chair and throws a fit when challenged. Thus, though she is characterized seemingly negatively, we are expected to sympathize with her when she throws fits that she herself is not promoted.

However, the characterizations are hardly the biggest issue here because as mentioned, a lot of the script is jut amateurish soapbox monologues. The very close of the film features this with a speech about how women can want money too without needing other reasons. This is true. No arguments. Yet, this on the nose dialogue is just not subtle. A better filmmaker and screenwriter would find a way to develop this theme without needing the characters to just blurt out what the writers want to communicate via the film. This is really my biggest issue with the film.

Now, as the rating may suggest, this review is quite overly harsh. The acting across the board is great from actors typically tasked with smaller roles. Anna Gunn and company transition terrifically into more leading roles and make the most of the screentime. The film is also capably directed for the most part, especially towards the end which is thrilling, suspenseful, and intense in its portrayal of the IPO launch. Though the build-up is slow as mentioned, it is pretty engrossing and compelling as we get dumped in the middle of this crazy, hectic, and demanding world. Unfortunately, bad dialogue, awkward characterization, and a slow beginning detract from an otherwise solid financial thriller.