Stock Market Films: 10 Movies from Inside the World of Finance
Would you like to step into the complex world full of incomprehensible variables with stock market movies? How about shady backroom deals made by old men in smart suits?
Stock market movies have it all, if you're looking for something that will keep you on the edge of your seat, make you jealous of a wilder life, or even teach you a thing or two about the cumbersome and complex equations that form the backbone of life, look into the world of finance. The top 10 stock market movies are here!
10) Too Big to Fail – Too Big to Fail (2011) | IMDb: 7.3
Director: Curtis Hanson
Players: William, Ed Asner, Billy Crudup
Rotten Tomatoes: 77%
American workers weren't the only ones suffering financially after the economic crash of 2008. U.S. companies, both small and large, have experienced financial loss that threatens global economic stability. Lehman Brothers was on the verge of collapse, and its CEO, Richard S. Fuld Jr., blamed the falling stock price on short sellers who ignored his bank's weaknesses. Treasury Secretary Henry Hank Paulson refused to use public money to rescue Lehman, so in September 2008 Lehman filed for bankruptcy. It sheds light on how the US economy works and discusses why financial aid funds are received from the government to prevent economic collapse.
9) Wall Street – Stock Exchange (1987) | IMDb: 7.4
Director: Oliver Stone
Players: Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Martin Sheen
Rotten Tomatoes: 79%
This 1987 movie, which popularized the phrase “greed is good,” is arguably a classic among stock market movies. In 1980s Wall Street, Bud Fox (Charlie) is an ambitious stockbroker and does his best to get to the top. Fascinated by the power of the ruthless Gordon Gekko (Douglas), Fox convinces Gekko to mentor him by engaging in insider trading. But as you see in the film's climax, unbridled greed begins to affect the people Fox cares about most. As Fox becomes involved in greed and underhanded schemes, his decisions eventually put the life of his honest father (Martin) at risk. Faced with this dilemma, Fox questions his loyalty.
8) Trading Places – The Rich and the Miserable (1983) | IMDb:7.5
Director: John Landis
Players: Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy
Rotten Tomatoes: 88%
Duke & Duke Commodity Brokers, a Philadelphia-based commodity brokerage firm, is a financial firm named after its owners, the Duke Brothers, kings of the stock market. The film is both entertaining and enlightening on some fundamental issues that are very commonly observed in financial markets. Top executive Louis Winthorpe III (Aykroyd) and con artist Billy Ray Valentine (Murphy) are placed in a bet by successful brokers Mortimer (Ameche) and Randolph Duke (Bellamy). Winthorpe, an employee of Duke, is trapped by the brothers for a crime he did not commit. His brothers replace him with the clever Valentine. When Winthorpe and Valentine uncover the plan, they set out to turn the tables on the Duke.
7) American Psycho – American Psycho (2000) | IMDb: 7.6
Director: Mary Harron
Players: Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto
Rotten Tomatoes: 69%
You know the stereotype: Every banker and financier is a greedy psychopath who doesn't care about anyone but themselves. Even though it has a cliché plot among stock market movies, these clichés are true. This movie has it all, and sometimes that means there's too much: brutal murder, a greedy psychopath, sex, unrequited love, torture, and plenty of suspense. In New York City in 1987, Patrick Bateman (Bale), a handsome young professional, lives a second life as a terrifying serial killer by night. The detective (Dafoe) is forced into a change by his fiancée (Reese Witherspoon), mistress (Samantha Mathis), co-worker (Leto) and secretary (Chloë Sevigny). A sarcastic comedy that examines the friendships that make a person a monster.
6) Moneyball – The Art of Winning (2011) | IMDb: 7.6
Director: Bennett Miller
Players: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
One day, Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane (Pitt) has an epiphany: Baseball's conventional wisdom is completely wrong. Faced with a tight budget, Beane must rebuild his team by beating richer ball clubs. Joining forces with Ivy League graduate Peter Brand (Hill), Beane prepares to challenge old traditions. Using a unique recruiting strategy, the manager builds a competitive team despite their limited budget. Based on the book “Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game” by Michael Lewis, the film tackles the financial difficulties faced by the Oakland Athletics baseball team.
5) Glengary Glen Ross – The Americans (1992) | IMDb: 7.7
Director: James Foley
Players: Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin
Rotten Tomatoes: 95%
When an office full of New York City real estate salesmen is given the news that all but the first two will be fired over the weekend, the atmosphere begins to heat up. Shelley Levene (Lemmon), who has a sick daughter, does everything she can to get better tips from her boss John Williamson (Kevin Spacey), but to no avail. Things get complicated for the tough-talking salesman when co-worker Dave Moss (Ed Harris) hatches a plan to steal leads. While the entire cast is top notch, Alec Baldwin's “motivational speech” will be the first scene you remember after the movie. It brings to light the absolute best and worst of working under immense pressure.
4) The Big Short (2015) | IMDb: 7.8
Director: Adam McKay
Players: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale
Rotten Tomatoes: 89%
In 2008, Wall Street guru Michael Burry realizes that a number of subprime mortgages are in danger of default. Burry is betting against the housing market by dumping more than $1 billion of his investors' money into credit default swaps. His moves attract the attention of banker Jared Vennett (Gosling), hedge fund expert Mark Baum (SCarell) and other greedy opportunists. Together, these men make a fortune by taking full advantage of the impending economic collapse in America. The most important financial lesson from this movie is how the greed of a corrupt group of financial experts can ruin the lives of millions of Americans across the country.
3) The Wolf of Wall Street – The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) | IMDb: 8.2
Director: Martin Scorsese
Players: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie
Rotten Tomatoes: 79%
The film showcases greed, drugs and a lavish lifestyle in the most extreme and ridiculous ways. It's an entertaining movie that may make you long for such a lifestyle, even if just for a moment. The movie takes you on a wild ride through the true story of Jordan Belfort, who rose from selling penny stocks to the big boy's high finance club. In 1987, Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio) takes an entry-level job at a Wall Street brokerage firm. In the early 1990s, while still in his 20s, Belfort founded his own firm, Stratton Oakmont. Along with his trusty lieutenant (Hill) and a merry group of brokers, Belfort amasses a huge fortune by defrauding millions of wealthy investors.
2) Inside Job (2010) | IMDb: 8.2
Director: Charles Ferguson
Players: Matt Damon, Gylfi Zoega, Andri Snaer Manason
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
The global financial crash in the fall of 2008 caused millions of job and home losses and plunged the United States into a deep economic recession. Matt Damon narrates a documentary that provides a detailed examination of the factors that led to the crash and identifies the key financial-political players. Director Charles Ferguson recounts a wide range of interviews and takes the story from the United States to China to Iceland and many other global financial trouble spots.
1) Generation: Freedom – Generation: Freedom (2019) | IMDb: 8.9
Director: Christopher Sakr
Players: Stephen Chou, Brian Clark, Brennan Agranoff
The number one movie on our list of stock market movies, Generation: Freedom, will make you question and reconsider your perspective on life and your plans for the future. If you feel like you're wasting your life on long drives and pointless meetings instead of spending time with people you care about or seeing the world, this movie will help you discover a new way of living and working. The film follows the true stories of a variety of people of all ages and backgrounds about how they created income streams around their ideal lifestyles rather than forcing their lives to fit their jobs. After watching, you can learn how to create your own dream life.