Movie Review - Equity

Equity (2016)

Starring Anna Gunn, James Purefoy, Sarah Megan Thomas, Alysia Reiner, Craig Bierko, Nate Corddry, Samuel Roukin, and James Naughton

Directed by Meera Menon

Naomi Bishop (Anna Gunn) is a senior investment banker at a powerful firm headquartered in New York City.  Her last IPO was a bit of a failure upon it introduction to the stock exchange, so her latest endeavor in trying to bring social networking platform Cachet to the market is pivotal to keeping her in the good graces of her bosses.  However, the business world is cutthroat and sometimes even criminal as Naomi faces not only the IPO launch of her career, but also an investigation by government attorney Samantha Ryan (Alysia Reiner) who is looking into fraud with those connected to Naomi including her boyfriend Michael (James Purefoy), a broker who may be involved in insider trading.

I realize that the above may sound uninteresting to those lacking business acumen -- and that includes myself -- but Equity is a surprisingly engaging and exciting film, feeling almost like a thriller as Naomi navigates the tricky business world, trying to make a name for herself as a woman in a male-dominated field.  Anna Gunn of "Breaking Bad" fame is fantastic as Naomi, fighting backstabbing folks of both genders as she struggles to buoy herself after a rocky few months.  Strong and powerful, Gunn anchors the film with the shrewd notion that it's okay to like money...it's okay to want to have money...it's okay to want to be successful.

While the film may not be as cinematic as one would like -- the news of the possibility of a tv series based off the film makes sense -- the film still proves to be provocative in its approach at showing the female side of the financial markets.  Don't let the prospect of the subject matter scare you away from this one.  It's not nearly as complicated as The Big Short, but it's a whole lot more interesting and successful.

The RyMickey Rating:  B+