Too Big to Fail
Encyclopedia
Too Big to Fail is a television drama film in the United States broadcast on HBO
on May 23, 2011. It is based on the non-fiction book Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin
. The TV film was directed by Curtis Hanson
. It received considerable critical acclaim recently earning 11 Emmy Nominations.
(William Hurt
) to contain the unfolding catastrophe, specifically the period of August 2008 to October 3, 2008. Dick Fuld (James Woods
), CEO of Lehman Brothers
, is seeking external investment, but investors are wary as Lehman is seriously exposed to toxic housing assets and the Treasury is ideologically opposed to offering any sort of bailout, as they did for Bear Stearns. He refuses a number of offers that he considers undervalued and seems to be in denial about the value of Lehman's toxic assets and refuses several deals to potentially save the company, believing the housing market will recover. Paulson attempts to arrange a private solution to the Lehman problem, and both Bank of America
and Barclays express interest in Lehman's "good" assets. Bank of America pulls back from the deal and instead chooses to purchase Merrill Lynch
. Barclays is prepared to accept the terms of the merger, but British banking regulators
refuse to approve the deal. Options exhausted, Paulson directs Fuld to declare bankruptcy before the market opens.
The initial reaction on Wall Street
is favorable as is the political reaction, and Paulson holds a press conference claiming to have demonstrated that the Treasury will not encourage moral hazard
. However, he quickly learns that Lehman's counterparty risk is impacting the entire financial market and the stock market is in freefall. Another crisis arises as AIG
begins to collapse. AIG had sold insurance to the financial industry and underwritten the value of mortgage backed securities. As these securities defaulted, AIG found itself unable to meet its obligations. Paulson's team realizes that if AIG is allowed to fail, its entire insurance portfolio will default and the entire financial industry will suffer massive losses. Although AIG is not a bank, the Treasury takes over AIG given the extraordinary circumstances. Ben Bernanke
(Paul Giamatti
), Chairman of the Federal Reserve, argues that the status quo is unsustainable and that the United States Congress
must pass legislation to authorize any continued intervention by the Fed or the Treasury. Paulson is skeptical of the prospects of passing such legislation a mere two months before an election, and worries that the worst case scenario is if the Treasury admits that it needs Congressional help to manage the crisis and Congress explicitly refuses such help.
Paulson and his staff brainstorm over how best to use such money, should they get it. The plan is "cash for trash" - buy the "toxic" assets of questionable worth off the banks, which will allow the banks to stabilize at a known valuation. Direct capital injection is considered as well, but written off as a political non-starter - a bailout to Democrats, and nationalization to Republicans. Timothy Geithner (Billy Crudup
), President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, realizes that the market cannot wait for Congressional action and attempts to arrange mergers between consumer banks and investment banks to allow the investment banks access to the Fed discount window
, though this proves to be a non-starter as the consumer banks have no appetite for further risk and the investment banks refuse to be sold at deflated prices. In the midst of these negotiations, Paulson receives a call from Jeffrey Immelt of General Electric
who tells him that GE is unable to finance its daily operations
despite the fact that it is a healthy company. Paulson realizes the crisis has spread to Main Street and the entire economy is at risk.
Bernanke and Paulson lobby Congress, with Bernanke emphasizing that a lack of credit helped make the 1929 stock crash into the Great Depression
, and that if Congress fails to act that the fallout will be far worse. The legislation looks likely to pass, but is thrown into chaos when John McCain
suspends his campaign for president to join the negotiations - potentially restarting them from square one. Paulson personally begs Nancy Pelosi not to back away from the negotiations and the vote moves forward, but fails to pass the House after too many Republicans vote "no", causing an immediate drop in the Dow of 600 points. After a wave of panic and personal haranguing from President George W. Bush
, the legislation passes on a second attempt, and the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
is signed into law.
Paulson and his staff now have the money, but find that valuing the toxic assets to buy will take two months minimum, and may still not be reliable, as the banks all wish to claim face value for them. As a result, they decide that the only way to get credit flowing again is direct capital injections after all. Furthermore, capital injections to only the weakest banks would be counterproductive - it would declare to the world which exact banks were "weak" and by how much, which could potentially just create a run on these banks and require even more of a bailout. With the help of FDIC chair Sheila Bair and the threat of an FDIC audit, Paulson informs the participating banks that they will be receiving mandatory capital injections in the form of non-voting government owned stock, and that they were all to use this money to get credit moving again. The banks agree to the capital injections, but Paulson balks at putting additional restrictions on how the funds are to be used fearing that the banks would refuse. Paulson's press secretary laments that the very parties who caused the crisis are being allowed to dictate the terms by which they will be rescued. Bernanke states that he hopes the banks will use the funds as intended. Paulson states "of course they will... of course they will"
An epilogue reveals that although markets did stablize and the banks repaid their Troubled Asset Relief Program funds, credit standards continued to tighten resulting in rising unemployment and foreclosures. Worse still, as bank mergers continued in the wake of the crisis these banks became even larger and that at the time of the film, 10 financial institutions held 77% of all US banking assets and have been declared too big to fail.
, with the show receiving an aggregate score of 67/100 from 17 reviews.
Home Box Office
HBO, short for Home Box Office, is an American premium cable television network, owned by Time Warner. , HBO's programming reaches 28.2 million subscribers in the United States, making it the second largest premium network in America . In addition to its U.S...
on May 23, 2011. It is based on the non-fiction book Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin
Andrew Ross Sorkin
Andrew Ross Sorkin is a Gerald Loeb Award-winning American journalist, author and television personality. He is a financial columnist for The New York Times and a co-anchor of CNBC's Squawk Box. He is also the founder and editor of DealBook, a financial news service published by The New York Times...
. The TV film was directed by Curtis Hanson
Curtis Hanson
Curtis Lee Hanson is an American film director, film producer and screenwriter. His directing work includes The Hand That Rocks the Cradle , L.A...
. It received considerable critical acclaim recently earning 11 Emmy Nominations.
Plot
Too Big to Fail chronicles the 2008 financial meltdown, focusing on the actions of then Secretary of the Treasury Henry PaulsonHenry Paulson
Henry Merritt "Hank" Paulson, Jr. is an American banker who served as the 74th United States Secretary of the Treasury. He previously served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs.-Early life and family:...
(William Hurt
William Hurt
William McGill Hurt is an American stage and film actor. He received his acting training at the Juilliard School, and began acting on stage in the 1970s. Hurt made his film debut as a troubled scientist in the science-fiction feature Altered States , for which he received a Golden Globe nomination...
) to contain the unfolding catastrophe, specifically the period of August 2008 to October 3, 2008. Dick Fuld (James Woods
James Woods
James Howard Woods is an American film, stage and television actor. Woods is known for starring in critically acclaimed films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Salvador, Nixon, Ghosts of Mississippi, Casino, and in the television legal drama Shark. He has won three Emmy Awards, and has gained...
), CEO of Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was a global financial services firm. Before declaring bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth largest investment bank in the USA , doing business in investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (former NYSE ticker...
, is seeking external investment, but investors are wary as Lehman is seriously exposed to toxic housing assets and the Treasury is ideologically opposed to offering any sort of bailout, as they did for Bear Stearns. He refuses a number of offers that he considers undervalued and seems to be in denial about the value of Lehman's toxic assets and refuses several deals to potentially save the company, believing the housing market will recover. Paulson attempts to arrange a private solution to the Lehman problem, and both Bank of America
Bank of America
Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...
and Barclays express interest in Lehman's "good" assets. Bank of America pulls back from the deal and instead chooses to purchase Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch is the wealth management division of Bank of America. With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets it is the world's largest brokerage. Formerly known as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., prior to 2009 the firm was publicly owned and traded on the New York...
. Barclays is prepared to accept the terms of the merger, but British banking regulators
Financial Services Authority
The Financial Services Authority is a quasi-judicial body responsible for the regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom. Its board is appointed by the Treasury and the organisation is structured as a company limited by guarantee and owned by the UK government. Its main...
refuse to approve the deal. Options exhausted, Paulson directs Fuld to declare bankruptcy before the market opens.
The initial reaction on Wall Street
Wall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
is favorable as is the political reaction, and Paulson holds a press conference claiming to have demonstrated that the Treasury will not encourage moral hazard
Moral hazard
In economic theory, moral hazard refers to a situation in which a party makes a decision about how much risk to take, while another party bears the costs if things go badly, and the party insulated from risk behaves differently from how it would if it were fully exposed to the risk.Moral hazard...
. However, he quickly learns that Lehman's counterparty risk is impacting the entire financial market and the stock market is in freefall. Another crisis arises as AIG
AIG
AIG is American International Group, a major American insurance corporation.AIG may also refer to:* And-inverter graph, a concept in computer theory* Answers in Genesis, a creationist organization in the U.S.* Arta Industrial Group in Iran...
begins to collapse. AIG had sold insurance to the financial industry and underwritten the value of mortgage backed securities. As these securities defaulted, AIG found itself unable to meet its obligations. Paulson's team realizes that if AIG is allowed to fail, its entire insurance portfolio will default and the entire financial industry will suffer massive losses. Although AIG is not a bank, the Treasury takes over AIG given the extraordinary circumstances. Ben Bernanke
Ben Bernanke
Ben Shalom Bernanke is an American economist, and the current Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States. During his tenure as Chairman, Bernanke has overseen the response of the Federal Reserve to late-2000s financial crisis....
(Paul Giamatti
Paul Giamatti
Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor. Giamatti began his career as a supporting actor in several films produced during the 1990s including Private Parts, The Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan, The Negotiator, and Man on the Moon, before earning lead roles in several projects in the...
), Chairman of the Federal Reserve, argues that the status quo is unsustainable and that the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
must pass legislation to authorize any continued intervention by the Fed or the Treasury. Paulson is skeptical of the prospects of passing such legislation a mere two months before an election, and worries that the worst case scenario is if the Treasury admits that it needs Congressional help to manage the crisis and Congress explicitly refuses such help.
Paulson and his staff brainstorm over how best to use such money, should they get it. The plan is "cash for trash" - buy the "toxic" assets of questionable worth off the banks, which will allow the banks to stabilize at a known valuation. Direct capital injection is considered as well, but written off as a political non-starter - a bailout to Democrats, and nationalization to Republicans. Timothy Geithner (Billy Crudup
Billy Crudup
William Gaither "Billy" Crudup is an American actor of film and stage. He is well known for his roles as guitarist Russell Hammond in Almost Famous, Will Bloom in Big Fish, and Ashitaka in Princess Mononoke. He also starred in the 2007 romantic comedy film Dedication, alongside Mandy Moore...
), President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, realizes that the market cannot wait for Congressional action and attempts to arrange mergers between consumer banks and investment banks to allow the investment banks access to the Fed discount window
Discount window
The discount window is an instrument of monetary policy that allows eligible institutions to borrow money from the central bank, usually on a short-term basis, to meet temporary shortages of liquidity caused by internal or external disruptions...
, though this proves to be a non-starter as the consumer banks have no appetite for further risk and the investment banks refuse to be sold at deflated prices. In the midst of these negotiations, Paulson receives a call from Jeffrey Immelt of General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
who tells him that GE is unable to finance its daily operations
Commercial paper
In the global money market, commercial paper is an unsecured promissory note with a fixed maturity of 1 to 270 days. Commercial Paper is a money-market security issued by large banks and corporations to get money to meet short term debt obligations , and is only backed by an issuing bank or...
despite the fact that it is a healthy company. Paulson realizes the crisis has spread to Main Street and the entire economy is at risk.
Bernanke and Paulson lobby Congress, with Bernanke emphasizing that a lack of credit helped make the 1929 stock crash into the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, and that if Congress fails to act that the fallout will be far worse. The legislation looks likely to pass, but is thrown into chaos when John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
suspends his campaign for president to join the negotiations - potentially restarting them from square one. Paulson personally begs Nancy Pelosi not to back away from the negotiations and the vote moves forward, but fails to pass the House after too many Republicans vote "no", causing an immediate drop in the Dow of 600 points. After a wave of panic and personal haranguing from President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, the legislation passes on a second attempt, and the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (Division A of , commonly referred to as a bailout of the U.S. financial system, is a law enacted in response to the subprime mortgage crisis...
is signed into law.
Paulson and his staff now have the money, but find that valuing the toxic assets to buy will take two months minimum, and may still not be reliable, as the banks all wish to claim face value for them. As a result, they decide that the only way to get credit flowing again is direct capital injections after all. Furthermore, capital injections to only the weakest banks would be counterproductive - it would declare to the world which exact banks were "weak" and by how much, which could potentially just create a run on these banks and require even more of a bailout. With the help of FDIC chair Sheila Bair and the threat of an FDIC audit, Paulson informs the participating banks that they will be receiving mandatory capital injections in the form of non-voting government owned stock, and that they were all to use this money to get credit moving again. The banks agree to the capital injections, but Paulson balks at putting additional restrictions on how the funds are to be used fearing that the banks would refuse. Paulson's press secretary laments that the very parties who caused the crisis are being allowed to dictate the terms by which they will be rescued. Bernanke states that he hopes the banks will use the funds as intended. Paulson states "of course they will... of course they will"
An epilogue reveals that although markets did stablize and the banks repaid their Troubled Asset Relief Program funds, credit standards continued to tighten resulting in rising unemployment and foreclosures. Worse still, as bank mergers continued in the wake of the crisis these banks became even larger and that at the time of the film, 10 financial institutions held 77% of all US banking assets and have been declared too big to fail.
Cast
- Topher GraceTopher GraceChristopher John "Topher" Grace is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Eric Forman on the Fox sitcom That '70s Show, Eddie Brock/Venom in the Sam Raimi film Spider-Man 3, and Edwin in the 2010 film Predators....
as Jim Wilkinson (Treasury Department) - Paul GiamattiPaul GiamattiPaul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor. Giamatti began his career as a supporting actor in several films produced during the 1990s including Private Parts, The Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan, The Negotiator, and Man on the Moon, before earning lead roles in several projects in the...
as Ben BernankeBen BernankeBen Shalom Bernanke is an American economist, and the current Chairman of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States. During his tenure as Chairman, Bernanke has overseen the response of the Federal Reserve to late-2000s financial crisis....
(Chairman of the Federal ReserveChairman of the Federal ReserveThe Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System is the head of the central banking system of the United States. Known colloquially as "Chairman of the Fed," or in market circles "Fed Chairman" or "Fed Chief"...
) - Billy CrudupBilly CrudupWilliam Gaither "Billy" Crudup is an American actor of film and stage. He is well known for his roles as guitarist Russell Hammond in Almost Famous, Will Bloom in Big Fish, and Ashitaka in Princess Mononoke. He also starred in the 2007 romantic comedy film Dedication, alongside Mandy Moore...
as Timothy Geithner (President of the New York Federal Reserve) - William HurtWilliam HurtWilliam McGill Hurt is an American stage and film actor. He received his acting training at the Juilliard School, and began acting on stage in the 1970s. Hurt made his film debut as a troubled scientist in the science-fiction feature Altered States , for which he received a Golden Globe nomination...
as Henry PaulsonHenry PaulsonHenry Merritt "Hank" Paulson, Jr. is an American banker who served as the 74th United States Secretary of the Treasury. He previously served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs.-Early life and family:...
(Secretary of the Treasury) - James WoodsJames WoodsJames Howard Woods is an American film, stage and television actor. Woods is known for starring in critically acclaimed films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Salvador, Nixon, Ghosts of Mississippi, Casino, and in the television legal drama Shark. He has won three Emmy Awards, and has gained...
as Dick Fuld (Lehman BrothersLehman BrothersLehman Brothers Holdings Inc. was a global financial services firm. Before declaring bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth largest investment bank in the USA , doing business in investment banking, equity and fixed-income sales and trading Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (former NYSE ticker...
) - John HeardJohn HeardJohn Heard, Jr. is an American actor well known for his recurring role as Peter McCallister, in the first two installments of the Home Alone movie series. In 2011 he appeared as Lehman Brothers COO Joe Gregory in Too Big to Fail, an HBO film. He also starred in Big.-Early life:Heard was born in...
as Joe Gregory (Lehman Brothers) - Bill PullmanBill PullmanWilliam James "Bill" Pullman is an American film, television, and stage actor. Pullman made his film debut in the supporting role of Earl Mott in the 1986 film Ruthless People. He has since gone on to star in other films, including Spaceballs, Independence Day, Lost Highway, Casper and Scary Movie 4...
as Jamie DimonJamie DimonJames "Jamie" Dimon is a business executive. He is the current chairman, president and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, and previously served as a Class A director of the Board of Directors of the New York Federal Reserve, a three year term which started January 2007...
(JP Morgan-Chase) - Ajay MehtaAjay MehtaAjay Mehta is an Indian-American actor.Mehta was born in New Delhi, India and he was educated in New Delhi, in Mayo College and St. Stephens College. After university, Ajay moved to Hong Kong to be a scriptwriter for the Hong Kong English TV channel TVB Pearl and occasionally appeared as cameo in...
as Vikram PanditVikram PanditVikram S. Pandit is an Indian-born American business executive. He is the current CEO of Citigroup.-Early life:Vikram Pandit was born in Nagpur, India to an affluent Marathi family . His father, S B Pandit was an executive director at Sarabhai Chemicals in Baroda. He completed his schooling at the...
(CitigroupCitigroupCitigroup Inc. or Citi is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Citigroup was formed from one of the world's largest mergers in history by combining the banking giant Citicorp and financial conglomerate...
) - Tony ShalhoubTony ShalhoubAnthony Marcus "Tony" Shalhoub is an American actor of Lebanese descent. His television work includes the roles of Antonio Scarpacci on Wings and sleuth Adrian Monk on the TV series Monk. He has won three Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for his work in Monk...
as John MackJohn J. MackJohn J. Mack is the current Chairman of the Board at Morgan Stanley, the New York-based investment bank and brokerage firm. Mack announced his retirement as Chief Executive Officer on September 10, 2009, which was effective January 1, 2010. Former Co-President James P...
(Morgan StanleyMorgan StanleyMorgan Stanley is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City serving a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. Morgan Stanley also operates in 36 countries around the world, with over 600 offices and a workforce of over 60,000....
) - Matthew ModineMatthew ModineMatthew Avery Modine is an award-winning American actor. His film roles include Private Joker in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, the title character in Alan Parker's Birdy, high school wrestler Louden Swain in Vision Quest, football star turned spy Alec McCall in Funky Monkey and the...
as John ThainJohn ThainJohn Alexander Thain is an American businessman, investment banker, and currently chairman and CEO of the CIT Group.Thain was the last chairman and chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch before its merger with Bank of America...
(Merrill LynchMerrill LynchMerrill Lynch is the wealth management division of Bank of America. With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets it is the world's largest brokerage. Formerly known as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., prior to 2009 the firm was publicly owned and traded on the New York...
) - Tom MasonTom Mason (actor)Tom Mason is an American actor born in Brooklyn, New York. He began his television career in 1977, portraying Rex Stout's fictional detective Archie Goodwin in the ABC-TV movie Nero Wolfe...
as Bob WillumstadRobert B. WillumstadRobert B. Willumstad is a former Chairman and CEO of the American International Group .He was born in Brooklyn and grew up on Long Island. His alma mater is Adelphi University....
(AIGAmerican International GroupAmerican International Group, Inc. or AIG is an American multinational insurance corporation. Its corporate headquarters is located in the American International Building in New York City. The British headquarters office is on Fenchurch Street in London, continental Europe operations are based in...
) - Edward Asner as Warren BuffettWarren BuffettWarren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is...
(Berkshire HathawayBerkshire HathawayBerkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years,...
) - Cynthia NixonCynthia NixonCynthia Ellen Nixon is an American actress, known for her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series Sex and the City . She has received two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a Grammy Award....
as Michele DavisMichele DavisMichele A. Davis served in a number of senior communications positions in the U.S. Treasury Department, Fannie Mae, and the White House during the George W. Bush era from 2001 to January 20, 2009. In her last government position, she served as Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and Director of...
(Treasury Department Public Relations) - Joey SlotnickJoey SlotnickJoey Slotnick is an American film and television actor.-Biography:Slotnick was born in Chicago, Ill.His film roles include computer industry pioneer Steve Wozniak in the film Pirates of Silicon Valley, and a part in the 1996 blockbuster Twister...
as Dan Jester (Treasury Department) - Michael O'KeefeMichael O'KeefeMichael Raymond O'Keefe is an American film and television actor.- Early life :O'Keefe was born Raymond Peter O'Keefe, Jr. in Mount Vernon, New York, the oldest of seven children in a devoutly Roman Catholic Irish American family. His father was a law professor at Fordham University, as well as...
as Chris Flowers (Goldman Sachs) - Amy CarlsonAmy CarlsonAmy Lynn Carlson is an American actress best known for playing Josie Watts on Another World and Alex Taylor on Third Watch. More recently, she played Kelly Gaffney on the short-lived NBC courtroom drama, Law & Order: Trial by Jury. She currently plays Linda Reagan on the CBS drama Blue Bloods...
as Erin Callan - Peter HermannPeter HermannPeter Hermann is a German-American actor and writer. He is married to actress Mariska Hargitay, with whom he has three children.-Career:Hermann had brief stints on a variety of television shows that include the soap opera, Guiding Light , the ABC Family show, Beautiful People and the Lifetime...
as Christopher Cox (Securities and Exchange Commission) - Dan HedayaDan HedayaDaniel G. “Dan” Hedaya is an American character actor. He often plays sleazy villains or uptight, wisecracking individuals; three of his best-known roles are as Italian Mafia boss Tony Costello in Wise Guys, a cuckolded husband in the Coen brothers' crime thriller Blood Simple, and the scheming...
as Barney FrankBarney FrankBarney Frank is the U.S. Representative for . A member of the Democratic Party, he is the former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and is considered the most prominent gay politician in the United States.Born and raised in New Jersey, Frank graduated from Harvard College and...
(Massachusetts Congressman) - Kathy BakerKathy BakerKatherine Whitton "Kathy" Baker is an American stage, film and television actress.-Career:Baker began her career at San Francisco's Magic Theatre, performing in several of Sam Shepard's plays before getting her break in an off-Broadway production of Fool for Love opposite Ed Harris...
as Wendy Paulson - Steve TomSteve TomSteve Tom is an American actor. He has guest-starred in a number of television series including Drake & Josh, ER, NYPD Blue, Sleeper Cell, Two and a Half Men, Prison Break, The West Wing and among other television series.He also appeared in the feature films First Daughter, Disney's The Kid,...
as Chris Dodd (Connecticut Senator) - Evan HandlerEvan HandlerEvan Handler is an American actor who is best known for playing Harry Goldenblatt, Charlotte's divorce attorney and later husband, on Sex and the City, and Charlie Runkle, Hank's comically bumbling friend and agent, on Californication.-Early life:Handler was born in New York City, the son of Enid...
as Lloyd BlankfeinLloyd BlankfeinLloyd Craig Blankfein is an American business executive. He is currently the CEO and Chairman of Goldman Sachs. He has been in this position since the May 31, 2006 nomination of former CEO Henry Paulson as Secretary of the Treasury under George W...
(Goldman Sachs) - Ayad AkhtarAyad Akhtar-Early life and career:Akhtar was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Pakistani parents. He attended Brown University where he majored in theater. After graduation he moved to Italy and studied acting with Jerzy Grotowski for a year. He then returned to the US to teach acting classes with Andre Gregory...
as Neel KashkariNeel KashkariNeel T. Kashkari was the Interim Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability in the United States Department of the Treasury. While in this role, he led the Office of Financial Stability, the office set up to buy troubled financial assets from U.S. financial firms under the $700...
(Treasury Department) - Casey BiggsCasey BiggsCasey Patrick Biggs is an American actor, best known throughout the Star Trek community for his recurring role as the Cardassian Damar, on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Biography:...
as Richard KovacevichRichard KovacevichRichard M. "Dick" Kovacevich, is retired chairman of the board of directors and previous CEO of Wells Fargo & Company.A native of Tacoma, Washington, he grew up in Enumclaw, Washington. At Stanford University he received BS and MS degrees in industrial engineering, followed by an MBA degree from...
(Wells FargoWells FargoWells Fargo & Company is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home...
) - Laila RobinsLaila Robins-Personal life:Robins was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, the daughter of Latvian American parents Brigita and Janis Robins, who was a research chemist. She attended the Yale School of Drama, and received her undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, . Robins has been in a...
as Christine LagardeChristine LagardeChristine Madeleine Odette Lagarde is a French lawyer and the managing director of the International Monetary Fund since July 5, 2011...
(French finance minister) - Andrew Ross SorkinAndrew Ross SorkinAndrew Ross Sorkin is a Gerald Loeb Award-winning American journalist, author and television personality. He is a financial columnist for The New York Times and a co-anchor of CNBC's Squawk Box. He is also the founder and editor of DealBook, a financial news service published by The New York Times...
- cameo as a business journalist - Linda Glick as Rep. Nancy PelosiNancy PelosiNancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011...
(60th Speaker of the United States House of RepresentativesSpeaker of the United States House of RepresentativesThe Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, or Speaker of the House, is the presiding officer of the United States House of Representatives...
)
Reception
The AV Club gave it a B rating. The series received generally favorable reviews from MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, with the show receiving an aggregate score of 67/100 from 17 reviews.