CAST
SIMON BAKER, PAUL BETTANY, JEREMY IRONS, DEMI MOORE, ZACHARY QUINTO, KEVIN SPACEY, STANLEY TUCCI

DIRECTED BY
J.C. CHANDOR

Trumping Wall Street as the ultimate drama about the financial sector, Margin Call looked into the processes that brought about the Global Financial Crisis and did so with an excellent script and staller acting from its ensemble cast.

CAST
TOM CRUISE, CUBA GOODING JR., BONNIE HUNT, REGINA KING, JONATHAN LEPNICKI, KELLY PRESTON, RENEE ZELWEGGER

DIRECTED BY
CAMERON CROWE

Cameron Crowe’s rom-com drama about a sport agent (Tom Cruise) who develops a conscious and begins his own agency is full of business wisdom, great one liners and disarming performances. “Show me the money!” indeed.

CAST
AL PACINO, F. MURRAY ABRAHAM, STEVEN BAUER, ROBERT LOGGIA, MARY ELIZABETH MASTRANTONIO, MICHELLE PFIEFFER, PAUL SHENAR

DIRECTED BY
BRAIN DE PALMA

Brian De Palma’s remake of the Howard Hawks classic Scarface focused on the burgeoning 1980s cocaine trade, which essentially turned Miami into a mecca. Al Pacino starred as Tony Montana, a Cuban exile who becomes the biggest importer of Bolivia’s finest, rising to the top of a drug empire with ruthless ambition.

CAST
ALAN ARKIN, ALEC BALDWIN, ED HARRIS, JACK LEMMON, AL PACINO, JONATAHN PRYCE, KEVIN SPACEY

DIRECTED BY
JAMES FOLEY

There is a reason why the actors of Glengarry Glen Ross jokingly referred to the film as “Death of a fucking Salesman!” Based on the David Mamet play, an all-star cast play real estate agents forced to make sales with bad leads or lose their jobs. Alec Baldwin’s “A.B.C. (Always Be Closing)” speech still ranks as one of the best business pep talks in cinema.

CAST
JESSE EISENBERG, ANDREW GARFIELD, ARMIE HAMMER, RASHIDA JONES, ROONERY MARA, MIKE MINGHELLA, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE

DIRECTED BY
DAVID FINCHER

Initially scoffed at as “that Facebook movie”, The Social Network surprised many with its astute character study of young entrepreneur Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) who changed the way we communicate with his Facebook, making online ventures a billion dollar industry.  

CAST
PETER FINCH, FAYE DUNAWAY, WILLIAM HOLDEN, NED BEATTY, ROBERT DUVAL, BEATRICE STRAIGHT

DIRECTED BY
SIDNEY LUMET

Scripted by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Sidney Lumet, Network was a chilling prophecy into what the television industry would morph into, as a suicidal news anchor (Peter Finch in his Oscar winning role) is exploited for ratings.

The much loved quote “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” still applies in a TV world inhabited by Jersey Shore and The Kardashians.

CAST
BRAD PITT, STEOHEN BISHOP, JONAH HILL, PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN, CHRIS PRATT, ROBIN WRIGHT

DIRECTED BY
BENNETT MILLER

Delving into the world of sports economics with wit and intelligence, Moneyball focused on the risks taken when opting for an innovative approach over a trusted business model.

Brad Pitt starred as Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team who finds salvation in a formula cooked up by economics whiz kid Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) where a winning ball club can be complied at a fraction of the average value.

Known as the “baseball movie that doesn’t have baseball”, Moneyball delved behind the scenes to create a fascinating portrait of a sport transformed by progress and the men who brought about it.

CAST
RUSSELL CROWE, AL PACINO, LINDSAY CROUSE, PHILIP BAKER HALL, DEBI MAZAR, CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER, DIANE VENORA

DIRECTED BY
MICHAEL MANN

The Insider delved into two different shady business practices. The first was in the tobacco industry, where scientist Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe) turns whistle blower and exposes his former employer Brown and Williamson as merchants of death who knew full well of their products addictive traits.

The second delves into corporate news, as 60 Minutes producer Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) struggles to get Wigand’s story on air due to the behind the scenes politics of CBS News.

Both morph into a compelling and thrilling drama about dirty business by corporate giants who conspire to bury the truth, impeccably directed by Michael Mann (his best film) and acted by Crowe, Pacino and Christopher Plummer who played 60 Minutes reporter Mike Wallace.

CAST
ORSON WELLES, WILLIAM ALLAND, DOROTHY COMINGORE, JOSEPH COTTON, GEORGE COULOURIS, EVERETT SLOANE, RUTH WARRICK

DIRECTED BY
ORSON WELLES

The best and most controversial of business movies, Citizen Kane saw Orson Welles create his masterpiece at the age of 27 and piss of half of Hollywood while doing so.

Welles starred as Charles Foster Kane, a media magnate who alienates his family and friends as he strives for total power. Welles landed in hot water when supposed inspiration- real life magnate William Randolph Hearst- took exception to Welles’ depiction of his life, leading to a fiery confrontation where Citizen Kane nearly didn’t make it to cinemas.

While it was unfairly shafted at the time (due to studio bigwigs and the press backing Hearst), Citizen Kane has gone on to become a highly regarded and influential film about when men of power manipulate the free press for their own gain, and how having everything will eventually lead to nothing.