Rogue Trader

Starring:Ewan McGregor, Anna Friel, Yves Beneyton, Betsy Brantley, Caroline Langrishe, Nigel Lindsay, Tim McInnerny, Irene Ng, Lee Ross, Simon Shepherd, John Standing, Pip Torrens, Tom Wu, Daniel York, Karen Lim, Guy Boardman, Lorna Pegler, Michael Garner (II), Joanna David, Alexis Denisof
Director: James Dearden
Studio: Miramax
Product Type: DVD

Description

Ewan McGregor (MOULIN ROUGE) brings a dynamic screen presence to this riveting motion picture about how greed, excess, and high-stakes gambling brought down one of Britain's oldest and most successful financial institutions. When he is sent to Singapore by the 200-year-old Barings Bank, futures trader Nick Leeson (McGregor) dreams of making a killing in the stock market. But even though his firm believes Nick is the most successful trader they've ever employed, he secretly begins to steal vast amounts of their own money to cover his risky financial wagering. With debts to match his desperation for a way out -- Nick risks everything in a frantic bid to beat the system and win back the money!

Customer Reviews:

mystifying.......2007-05-23

In the early 90s, Nick Leeson found himself working in Singapore as a poorly-supervised options trader on behalf of Britain's storied Barings Bank. His defalcation in this capacity (to the tune of over 1.3 billion dollars) led to Baring's unexpected collapse and about 6 years of jail time for the miscreant.

While behind bars, he wrote a story of his life entitled "Rogue Trader." This movie is heavily based on that book.

As for the quality of what you're getting here, I have to say the whole thing's a bit puzzling.

On the surface, there seems nothing wrong with this movie. The acting is all fine, the directing fine, the script fine. In theory the subject matter is interesting and the filmmakers make no obvious blunders.

Yet it's one of those movies that has so little to recommend it that months later you probably won't even be able to remember watching it.

Can't quite put my thumb on why: I've read Leeson's book and found it entertaining in a grisly sort of way.

But here we have a movie, and a movie that simply doesn't work.

Is that because Leeson's story simply does not lend itself well to the medium of film? Is is because the whole thing is predictable and there really aren't any twists? Is is because what Leeson was doing was so complicated that, despite the valiant efforts of the filmmakers, you spend the entire movie more or less in a fog? Is it because the movie contains a scarcity of people to root for?

Whatever the case, you can definitely find something better to do with two hours of your time.

three stars for Rogue Trader.......2007-04-29

The rogue trader of the movie is Nick Leeson who brought down the venerable 200-year-old Barings bank. Being based on his biography, the film is full of justification for his financial legerdemain -- his superiors were greedy, he was burdened with inexperienced staff, his wife of high expectations had a miscarriage that precipitated his final gambling run...

Ewan McGregor was uninspired in his playing the lead role and the first two-thirds of the film is a slog. The only reason I didn't rate it any lower is because the subject matter itself is interesting and towards the end the pace does pick up as you try to figure out how much longer Leeson can keep up the deception.

Good Lead Actors, Decent Movie.......2007-03-09

McGregor and Friel make a cute couple. While there's not a whole lot of depth, it is a fairly good translation of Nick Leeson's book.

One of Ewan's Best.......2006-08-09

I am a big fan of Ewan McGregor and have seen most of his movies. I was hesitant to get this movie because the idea of money, trading, etc. seemed foreign and out of my league. You DO NOT have to know anything about trading to get into this movie. Ewan McGregor gives one of his best performances. You actually feel extremely nervous and uncomfortable as he gets himself deeper and deeper into trouble. You kind of feel like you're going to get in trouble for just watching! Great movie if you love suspense and a "must own" for any Ewan fan.

Excellent Movie 4 Traders. Ok 4 Others.......2006-03-03

To fully apreciate this movie you have to be a trader, a trader who has experienced loses. Many of the emotions that Nick goes through are similar to the emotions that most people experience when they begin to trade. While Nick's trading style is different than most people's (price arbitrage and huge amounts of equity), the emotions are still there, fear and greed.

Average customer rating:

mystifying
three stars for Rogue Trader
Good Lead Actors, Decent Movie
One of Ewan's Best
Excellent Movie 4 Traders. Ok 4 Others

Rogue Trader [Region 2]
Starring: Ewan McGregor , Anna Friel , Yves Beneyton , Betsy Brantley , and Caroline Langrishe
Director: James Dearden
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Thrillers | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video