Inside Job (2010)

Director:

Charles Ferguson

Writers:

Charles Ferguson (written by)
Chad Beck (co-written by) ...
(more)

Release Date:

2 February 2010 (Belgium)

Genre:

Documentary | Crime

Tagline:

The film that cost $20,000,000,000,000 to make

Plot:

Takes a closer look at what brought about the financial meltdown.

Plot Keywords:

Iceland | Recession | Interview | Reagan Era | Morgan Stanley

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 7 wins & 16 nominations

Cast

Matt Damon	...	Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
William Ackman	...	Himself
Daniel Alpert	...	Himself
Jonathan Alpert	...	Himself
Sigridur Benediktsdottir	...	Herself
Ben Bernanke	...	Himself (archive footage)
Willem Buiter	...	Himself
George W. Bush	...	Himself (archive footage)
John Campbell	...	Himself
Patrick Daniel	...	Himself
Satyajit Das	...	Himself
Kristin Davis	...	Herself
Martin Feldstein	...	Himself
Jerome Fons	...	Himself
Barney Frank	...	Himself
Timothy Geithner	...	Himself (archive footage)
Robert Gnaizda	...	Himself
Michael Greenberger	...	Himself
Alan Greenspan	...	Himself (archive footage)
Eric Halperin	...	Himself
Samuel Hayes	...	Himself
R. Glenn Hubbard	...	Himself
Simon Johnson	...	Himself
Christine Lagarde	...	Herself
Andrew Lo	...	Himself
Lee Hsien Loong	...	Himself
Andri Snær Magnason	...	Himself
David McCormick	...	Himself
Lawrence McDonald	...	Himself
Harvey Miller	...	Himself
Frederic Mishkin	...	Himself
Charles Morris	...	Himself
Barack Obama	...	Himself (archive footage)
Frank Partnoy	...	Himself
Raghuram Rajan	...	Himself
Kenneth Rogoff	...	Himself
Nouriel Roubini	...	Himself
Andrew Sheng	...	Himself
Allan Sloan	...	Himself
George Soros	...	Himself
Eliot Spitzer	...	Himself
Steven A. Stephen	...	Himself
Dominique Strauss-Kahn	...	Himself
Scott Talbott	...	Himself
Gillian Tett	...	Herself
Paul Volcker	...	Himself
Henry Waxman	...	Himself (archive footage)
Martin Wolf	...	Himself
Gylfi Zoega	...	Himself
Ann Curry	...	Herself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Charles Ferguson

Writing credits
Charles Ferguson		(written by)
Chad Beck		(co-written by) &
Adam Bolt		(co-written by)

Produced by
Charles Ferguson	....	producer
Jeffrey Lurie	....	executive producer
Kalyanee Mam	....	associate producer
Audrey Marrs	....	producer
Anna Moot-Levin	....	associate producer
Christina Weiss Lurie	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Alex Heffes

Cinematography by
Svetlana Cvetko
Kalyanee Mam

Film Editing by
Chad Beck
Adam Bolt

Set Decoration by
Mariko Marrs

Sound Department
Rich Bologna	....	sound designer
John Bowen	....	recording engineer
Tim Crossley	....	dialogue editor
Tom Efinger	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tom Efinger	....	supervising sound editor
Richard Fleming	....	additional sound recordist
Richard Fleming	....	additional location sound
David Hocs	....	location sound mixer
Michael Jones	....	location sound mixer
John Levy	....	location sound
David Mendez	....	location sound mixer
Brenda Ray	....	additional location sound
Abigail Savage	....	sound designer
Jeff Seelye	....	assistant sound editor
Jeff Seelye	....	sound editor
Daniel Silverman	....	recording
Matt Stanford	....	machine room operator
Nelson Stoll	....	additional location sound

Visual Effects by
Jonathan Gershon	....	graphics

Camera and Electrical Department
Arthur Aravena	....	gaffer
Carter Bissell	....	grip
Mariusz Cichon	....	digital imaging technician
Mariusz Cichon	....	director of photography: second unit
Mariusz Cichon	....	still photographer
Bill Dixon	....	grip
John Dunkin	....	grip
Artur Dzieweczynski	....	digital imaging technician
John Frisbie	....	gaffer
Tomasz Gryz	....	digital imaging technician
Jason Hubert	....	gaffer
Stephen Kaye	....	gaffer
Sam Krueger	....	grip
Adam Macbeth	....	grip
Geir Magnússon	....	gaffer
Robert McKenna	....	gaffer
Gray Mitchell	....	aerial camera operator
Aaron Randall	....	grip
Matthew Schroder	....	digital imaging technician
Seth Uhlin	....	grip

Editorial Department
Won Hee Chang	....	pen operator
Don Ciana	....	color timer
Ralph Costanza	....	digital film producer
Will Cox	....	digital intermediate colorist
Ben Laffin	....	digital intermediate on-line editor
Joseph M. Lee	....	digital intermediate on-line editor
Alan Oxman	....	post production supervisor
Sheila Shirazi	....	assistant editor
Caitlin Tartaro	....	digital intermediate producer
John Woo	....	first assistant editor
Eugene Yi	....	first assistant editor

Music Department
Matthew Barley	....	soloist: cello
Susan Jacobs	....	music supervisor
Andy Richards	....	original score mixer
Andy Richards	....	score mixed by
Matt Robertson	....	additional programming
Neil Stemp	....	additional programming

Other crew
Kristin Bye	....	production assistant
Lisa Callif	....	clearance counsel
Al Cerullo	....	helicopter pilot
Robin Cutter	....	production accountant
Jerry L. Dasti	....	production counsel (as Jerry Dasti Esq)
Richard Dworkin	....	transcipts
Jacqueline Eckhouse	....	production counsel (as Jackie Eckhouse Esq)
Jonathan Gershon	....	title designer
Andrew Houchens	....	production assistant
Brittany Kaplan	....	production assistant
John I. Khalil	....	research intern
Jeffrey King	....	location scout
Chris Knight	....	production assistant
Kalyanee Mam	....	researcher
Carola Mamberto	....	additional research & archival acquisition
Carola Mamberto	....	researcher
Stacy Mandel-Sonner	....	production assistant
Alec Modzeleski	....	production assistant
Christopher Murphy	....	researcher
Rosemary Rotondi	....	additional research & archival acquisition
Rosemary Rotondi	....	researcher
Marvin Ruffin	....	production assistant
Benjamin Schwall	....	fixer in China
Bethany Thomas	....	production insurance: CBS coverage
Isaac Urwin	....	post production intern
Reinaldo Vazquez	....	translator: Spanish
Rob Voigt	....	mandarin translation
Joanna Xu	....	interpreter in China

Thanks
Christopher Applegren	....	thanks
Johann Gunnar Arnarson	....	thanks
Andy Asp	....	thanks
Chad Beck	....	special thanks
Reagan Beck	....	thanks
Dag Bennstrom	....	thanks
Vilhjálmur Bjarnason	....	thanks
Andrew Blackwell	....	the producers wish to thank
Adam Bolt	....	special thanks
Brooksley Born	....	photographs courtesy of
Paul Brennan	....	the producers wish to thank
Eduardo Canedo	....	thanks
Ron Chapple	....	the producers wish to thank
Linda Cohen	....	the producers wish to thank
Will Cox	....	the producers wish to thank
Mike Cutter	....	the filmmakers would like to thank
Tina D'Orazio	....	thanks
Matt Damon	....	thanks
Jerry L. Dasti	....	thanks (as Jerry Dasti)
Laura Dawn	....	thanks
Nicholas Dungan	....	thanks
Jacqueline Eckhouse	....	thanks
Charlotte Ferguson	....	thanks
Amy Foote	....	thanks
Anna Gatti	....	thanks
Robert Gnaizda	....	photographs courtesy of
Stewart Griffin	....	the filmmakers would like to thank
Matt Harvey	....	thanks
Alex Heffes	....	special thanks
Kate Hohman	....	thanks
Robert Jordan	....	the filmmakers would like to thank
Evan Kafka	....	photographs courtesy of
Rachael Kagan	....	thanks
Carl Kaysen	....	in memory of
Alex Krawitz	....	thanks
Cindy Lee	....	the filmmakers would like to thank
Tom Luddy	....	thanks
Kalyanee Mam	....	special thanks
Audrey Marrs	....	special thanks
Leona Kimi Marrs	....	thanks
Mariko Marrs	....	thanks
Stephen Massoni	....	thanks
John McCullough	....	the filmmakers would like to thank
Jesse Michaels	....	thanks
Amy Taylor Mitchell	....	thanks
Erin Lee Mock	....	thanks
Manas Mohapatra	....	thanks
Molly Neuman	....	thanks
Alan Oxman	....	thanks
Chad Queirolo	....	thanks
Geoffrey Richman	....	thanks
Charlie Rokosny	....	thanks
Marie Rossettie	....	thanks
John Sloss	....	the director wishes to thank
Athena Sofia	....	thanks
Joseph St. Denis	....	photographs courtesy of
Angela Sung	....	thanks
Caitlin Tartaro	....	thanks
Antoine Treuille	....	thanks
Audrey Vera	....	thanks
Thad Vogler	....	thanks
B.J. Warshaw	....	thanks
Alice Waters	....	thanks
Christina Weiss Lurie	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Representational Pictures
• Sony Pictures Classics

Distributors

• Columbia TriStar Warner Filmes de Portugal (2010) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Mongrel Media (2010) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2010) (USA) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2010) (France) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Entertainment (2011) (Japan) (all media)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Nordic (2011) (Finland) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2011) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2011) (Germany) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2011) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2011) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Sony Pictures Releasing (2011) (Argentina) (all media)

Other Companies

• ABC News Video Source  archival footage
• AP Archive  archival footage
• AP/ Wide World Photos  photographs courtesy of
• Averbach Transcription  transcripts
• Bigstar Motion Design  graphics by
• Bloomberg  archival footage
• Brennan, Dain, Le Ray, Wiest, Torpy & Garner  production counsel
• Business Week Magazine  photographs courtesy of
• C-SPAN Archives  archival footage
• CCTV  archival footage
• Cable News Network (CNN)  archival footage
• Cinetic Media  distribution advisory services
• Corbis Images  photographs courtesy of
• Corbis Motion  archival footage
• Dig-It Audio  post-production sound services
• Donaldson & Callif  clearance counsel
• Exclusivepix  photographs
• Final Frame  post-production facilities
• French-American Foundation, The  thanks
• Getty & Fromkess Corporation  archival footage
• Getty Images  photographs courtesy of
• Ground Control productions  archival footage
• Hudson Hotel  additional thanks (as The Hudson Hotel)
• ITN  archival footage
• Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, The  archival footage
• Intelligence Squared  additional thanks
• Kaye Lites  grip and lighting equipment
• Law Offices of Donaldson & Callif  clearance counsel
• Michael C. Donaldson Law Office  clearance counsel
• NBC News Archives  archival footage
• NY1 News  archival footage
• New Museum  additional thanks (as The New Museum)
• OXO Tower Restaurant  additional thanks
• Out of Eden  score mixed at
• Pond 5  archival footage
• Sloss Eckhouse Brennan Law  production counsel
• Sync Sound  recording facility for narrative
• Technicolor  digital film lab
• The Mercer Hotel  thanks
• The Staff at Chez Pannisse Restaurant, Berkeley, CA  thanks
• Thought Equity Motion  archival footage
• UCLA School of Law  thanks (as UCLA Law School)
• VMS  archival footage

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some drug and sex-related material

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #46315) | Portugal:M/12 | Ireland:12A | Sweden:Btl | Hong Kong:IIA | Japan:G | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:12 | Finland:K-3 | Australia:PG | Argentina:Atp | France:U

Filming Locations:

China

Company:

Representational Pictures

Trivia:

On being interviewed about this film, Henry Rollins likened Charles Ferguson's interviewing technique to "tightening the screws little by little until the interviewee starts to say "Ow.....ow.....ow and then, Stop the camera!"

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): The first time Dominique Strauss-Khan's name is shown, it is misspelled. 'Dominique' is written 'Dominque', and 'Strauss-Kahn' is written 'Straus-Kahn'.

Quotes:

Narrator:For the first time in history, average Americans have less education and are less prosperous than their parents.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Death and Taxes (2011)

Soundtrack:

New York Groove

I expected more from a full-length feature documentary

This movie is a good basic primer about the financial crisis of 2008 for those who haven't really been following this story and have little or no financial knowledge. The official description promises that if you get angry when you think about the crisis, you're going to get even angrier after you watch the movie. It delivers on that promise. Several of the interview scenes also deliver a few good laughs. The movie's main strength is the way it explores academia's contribution to the collapse. It exposes the conflict of interest of academics who are supposed to be independent, expert voices in the field but who derive the bulk of their very lucrative incomes from paid consulting engagements on behalf of the financial services industry. This is an angle I hadn't seen covered before.

It also illustrates how little has changed in the American financial world, despite Obama's rhetoric. Rather than being held accountable for their role in the collapse, many of its architects remain in key positions of power

On the downside, the movie oversimplifies the causes of the crisis. It focuses primarily on deregulation and Wall Street's incentive structure and culture of reckless risk-taking and lax morals and ethics. It also briefly mentions poor risk assessments by credit rating agencies and predatory lending, without really explaining what it was or getting into any depth on the matter.

Sub-prime lending was mentioned only in a very cursory manner. There was no mention of the Clinton Administration's push for sub-prime lending to expand mortgage loans to low and moderate income people.

There was no mention of the Federal Reserve's contribution to the housing bubble as a result of it's policy to ease credit conditions in the early 2000s to soften the impact of the collapse of the dot com bubble and the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

There was no mention of the shadow banking system; how it contributed to the crisis and how it greatly amplified the losses.

There was no mention of David X. Li's Gaussian copula formula and how it was used by credit rating agencies to justify AAA ratings for collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) that consisted of baskets of higher risk debt instruments.

I expected more from a full-length feature documentary. I've seen TV shows that delved into greater depth on this issue. This movie pushes the right emotional buttons but ultimately, it's light fare for those on a low-intellect diet.