Plot: What’s it about?
Nick Leeson (Ewan McGregor) has one dream, and that’s to not just make it as a stocks and bonds trader, but to rule the floor. After completing his schooling and toiling away paying his dues, Nick is offered the chance of a lifetime, to start up a trading group in Singapore, on behalf of Britain’s oldest bank, Barings. Nick works with his fellow workers, and the team begins a little slow, but they progress well over time. Along with his team, Nick brings in a little profit for Barings, but has his eye on bigger fortunes, which calls for risky moves and large amounts of money. When one of his team members screws up and loses a decent sum of money, Nick opts to risk some of Barings’ money instead of cutting his losses with the mistake. But his moves don’t pay off right away, and he must keep “borrowing” money from the Barings account, until he has taken out over ten million dollars. His instincts pay off though, and he wins back the cash plus a huge profit for Barings, becoming the best trader on the floor, just what we wanted to do. But Nick wants even more, bigger profits, a better reputation, and he keeps borrowing more and more from the Barings account, banking on his desire to be the best. Nick has to lay everything on the line to make this gamble pay off, but will his luck run out this time?
This is one great movie, with a tense and riveting storyline, which is even more powerful due to the fact that this is a true story. Hell, the name hasn’t even been changed, Nick Leeson is our main character, and Leeson really did the things in real life his character does on screen. Leeson also cowrote the book which this screenplay was based on, so I assume the events are very close to reality. I didn’t think a movie about the stock market (aside from Wall Street) could really be that exciting, but man, this movie had be glued to the tube, I couldn’t even pause it or anything. The writing is phenomenal, slowly building the story, yet doing so at a pace which keeps us interested, very cool stuff here. I’m not sure what genre this movie would fall into, but I would say a blend of drama/suspense/thriller would cover all the bases. If you’re in the mood for a fantastic movie that is not so mainstream for a change, Rogue Trader would be a perfect choice, I don’t think you’ll regret it.
The director of Rogue Trader is James Dearden, who also penned the screenplay for the film, which as I mentioned, was based on the book by the real life Nick Leeson. Dearden creates an excellent atmosphere for this film, especially during the trading floor scenes, which are awesome. If you like the style here, check out other Dearden films, such as A Kiss Before Dying, Pascali’s Island, and The Contraption. The cast of this film is basically Ewan McGregor in the lead role, with only a few other roles even mattering. McGregor (The Phantom Menace, Trainspotting) is excellent here, one of his finest turns to date, perhaps due to the outstanding writing, but who knows for sure. The more I see McGregor in roles like this, the more I like him, so I hope to see him in similar films in the near future. The supporting cast in this film includes Anna Friel (Sunset Strip, A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Nigel Lindsay, Betsy Brantley (I Come In Peace, Double Jeopardy), Yves Beneyton (Chariots of Fire), and Tim McInnery (Richard III, Notting Hill).
Video: How does it look?
Rogue Trader is shown here in an anamorphic widescreen transfer, which is framed at the original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. This title came out right when the Mouse House started to support anamorphic transfers, so we get a fantastic looking visual presentation. This is a lower budget film though, so it isn’t quite as sharp and polished as a blockbuster type flick. The colors are vivid, flesh tones look natural, and contrast levels seem normal and consistent. This transfer has no compression errors to speak of either.
Audio: How does it sound?
This release uses a 2.0 surround track, but the audio is mostly dialogue. You will note some surround use when the soundtrack comes in, but aside from that, I didn’t hear anything from the rear channels. The dialogue is what matters here, and it sounds crisp and well balanced.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This release contains no bonus materials at all. What a shank, huh?
