Review of The Wizard of Lies (2017) by Art W — 31 May 2017

De Niro again shows why he is a great actor - he's totally believable. Michelle Feiffer and the rest of the cast give you a great sense of New York's dog-eat-dog hectic atmosphere. And the thick as mud Noo Yawk accents remind you that you're not in Kansas anymore.

It was hard to watch Madoff curse at his sons, yet they still loved him (before they knew what he did). When they asked him how he traded stocks, he angrily told them, "You run your business and I'll run mine". What an asshole.

Mostly, I came away with Madoff's refusing to accept responsibility. He blames investors for being greedy. He never thought about how he would ruin lives if his scheme collapsed. He says, "My problem is that I like to please people". Bullshit. He likes ADORATION from people. He never gives a shit about the effect of his fraud on their lives. (hmmm... sounds like a president I read about lol).

The tragedy is the suicide of one of his sons. Even if he's got sociopathic tendencies (it's never stated if he did) that's gotta rip your heart to shreds.

This is a fine movie from fine people and a great character study of "the banality of evil". I get the feeling that if I ever met Bernie in his early days, I would have thought: nice, smart guy, but too fucking crude for my taste. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.