Freefall [DVD]

Interesting idea for a film. Namely, shows the cause and effects of the sub prime mortgage market in the UK via a vertical format. At the bottom is the borrower that took out sub prime loan with a short term teaser rate to get into a home that they couldn't really afford. Next up is the aggressive mortgage sales person that works for a mortgage broker and was trained in a "boiler room" type of environment. Finally, there is the financial executive (perhaps a head of structured finance) that runs the trading desk that packages the loans into bonds for sale to institutional investors.Unfortunately, the film falls short both in character development and from actually providing information. Perhaps the best developed and most compelling character is the mortgage salesperson. Prototypical new working rich with a limited education from a blue collar background that with success comes all the new toys. The borrower who ultimately ends up having to default on the loan when the teaser rate expires and the payment goes up by 50% is somewhat sympathetic, though he doesn't place enough of the blame on himself (I.E. not reading the loan docs, etc.), choosing instead to blame the loan agent (who BTW was an old school friend) for his problems after getting fired from his job for falling asleep into a double shift. Also, it is unclear why his wife didn't simply get a job to make up the difference in the payment?The worst job of character development and providing at least a basic understanding of how the process works re: the banker that worked in the "City" and was responsible for packaging the loans into bonds, etc. Yes, the character (the only American in the film) comes off as a cold bastard who only lives for the deal while neglecting his daughter from his prior marriage and occasionally nailing his co-worker on the trading floor after hours. However, what I would like to have been given is better details relative to the process and scope of the market. OK, I work in the business and realize that the subject matter may not be for the layman and perhaps the director didn't feel that dumbing it down would add anything to film, though at least a simple flow chart showing how loans make it into pools of loans and how pools of loans make it into bonds and how the bonds are then rated by a 3rd party re: risk and finally sliced and diced for sale to institutional buyers in the secondary market (AKA mortgage backed/asset backed securities for dummies). Truth be told, re: to the film, they were actually structuring CDO's (collateralized debt obligations), which is an asset class that can combine many forms of collateral into a single issue, as opposed to ABS (asset backed securities), which was typically the exit strategy of choice for sub prime loans. Aside from my quest for details, I would have liked the film to show the effects of the other employees of the bank that were not earning 7-figures annually.Despite the flaws (namely, my quest for detail) I would recommend watching the film, as there are not many fictional pieces available that cover the topic

Staring Dominic Cooper what do you expect other than a great review the story was short but to the point sex scenes very mild but the overall film perfect. Good cover art.

great product

Kept me on the edge of my seat... although sarah harding's performance was questionable. Aidan and Dominic really sold the film and is one of Aidan's better performances. Could really relate to the characters. Well done and worth watching!

Great drama and very well acted. The storyline is pretty grim and hard to watch but excellent story.

I personally thought this was great, although before watching it, the story line didn't grab me as being interesting enough to keep me watching, but strangely, it did. I thought the acting was good, apart from Sarah Harding (from Girls Aloud) who actually wasn't in it that much, but it was a bit frightful when she was. Apart from that, I thought it was a decent play about what is happening to the broad spectrum of people in today's society.

saw reviews on this and loved the actors/actresses in other roles but did not like this found it boring and not very good acting The plot was easy to follow but just got bored. I have since sold this item so it did not waste space on my shelf as i would not of watched it again

The dialogue in this TV movie sounds like it was improvised and that's writer/director Dominic Savage's problem. The dialogue is naturalistic but banal, with people talking over each other, repeating themselves and the awful business-speak. A film about the mortgage crisis is a tough sell and Freefall has many moments that drag because of mortgage discussions- not really something viewers seek out for entertainment.The naturalist approach is also marred by the cliches (money makes everyone initially horny but then depressed); yes, high flying corporate businessmen do lead different lives but you need dialogue that can match that environment. Wall Street's dialogue is exaggerated but memorable and it sticks in the mind; Freefall doesn't stick in the mind and neither does its message. It feels like a pointless exercise- corporate salesmen are easy targets and the little guy screwed over by extortionate mortgage repayments is an easy target for sympathy.So why two stars? There are some decent performances; Dominic Cooper's character, Dave Matthews, is an amoral but highly successful salesman, whose sales patter comes so naturally that he doesn't even have to think about it. There's not any dimensions to the character beyond that but Savage has at least captured the tales that make sales. The only character with more than one dimension is Gus, a workaholic who is literally turned on by making money. Aiden Gillen's performance is sympathetic, despuite all the usual stereotypes of the character, but the added dimension is only brought in around forty minutes from the end so it depends how tolerant you are of the rest of the film.All in all, whilst the film was timely when it was released in 2009, that wave has now gone and Savage really has nothing new to say.