Chasing Madoff

2010
6.2| 1h31m| en
Details

A look at how one investigator spent ten years trying to expose Bernie Madoff's massive Ponzi scheme that scammed an estimated $18 billion from investors.

Cast

Director

Producted By

AD
AD

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime. Watch Now

Trailers & Clips

Reviews

CommentsXp Best movie ever!
Maidexpl Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast
Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.
LeonLouisRicci Based on the Book by Harry Markopolos "No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller", the Story of an Intense Investigation of Bernie Madoff trying to find out if Fraud was being Perpetrated on the Public by Madoff in a "Ponzi Scheme" or was it all some kind of Super-Genius at Work.The Book could and should have been Titled…"No One Cared"...because They did Listen but more Importantly didn't care. Probably because Someone, if not Everyone was either told "Not to Care" or because Someone and more probably Everyone was...wait for it...MAKING MONEY.The Security Exchange Commission (SEC) Higher Ups, and, as We are told, Madoff created an Octopus Monster with Tentacles reaching all over the World and its reach was not only Wide but High, sometimes Sliming its way to the Top of the Global Pyramid.No Wonder "No One Would Listen", or more Accurately No One Cared. Even Most if Not Some of the Madoff Investors, especially those involved in Finance, knew for a Probability if Not a Certainty that something wasn't "Right/Legal". But the Gravy Boat was Rolling so why Rock it.The Documentary is a High-Style entry in the many Expanded News Stories and Examinations done since Bernie Madoff turned Himself in (to avoid assassination). In this one the Focus is On Markopolos and Associates reliving "Their" Story. It's Glossy and includes Glitzy Dramatizations and Over the Top Archival Footage to Enhance the Entertainment Value.Those that want "Just the Facts, thank You Mam", might Find this a bit too Self-Conscious and at times Silly. There are other Products out there that are Straight Documentaries. This one is Far From Straight. It makes its Point with Paraded Out Footage from Gangster Newsreels and even Movies. Maybe too Fluffy for Some, but this Documentary is made for the Masses and tries to the Extreme to be "A Financial Thriller". It somewhat Succeeds, but is not going to Please Everyone like Madoff Did...Until He Didn't.
Vlad_the_Reviewer Markopolis was a hero in my book for a brief moment. That ended after I saw multiple interviews with him and this documentary. This documentary is basically a Markopolis worship movie. Throughout we are told how big of a hero he is, that he needs to fear for his and his family safety, that he has a gun and how special he is in general. It's tiring beyond imaginable borders. Frankly, Markopolis' behaviour looks buffoon-ish. He never was in any danger. And he did not chase Madoff because he has a good heart.It all started because Markopolis was chasing for Madoff's secret because Madoff stole much of the customers from Markopolis' employer. His employer asked if he could find out how Madoff did it. The victims were mostly of Jewish heritage, much to the dismay of the Jewish community as it gave them a bad name for being greedy and Madoff being a Jew himself offcourse. By now about 80% of the funds have been retrieved and given back to the victims.Like mentioned before, this documentary is mostly about Markopolis' supposed greatness. We won't learn much about the ins and outs of how things went down. The documentary should have told in what ways the governmental institutions failed. Yet this kind of information is kept to a minimum and at a very low level. There are much better documentaries out there.I saw an interview where Markopolis claimed that only Wall Street papers were negative about this movie, as it supposedly tried to make Wall Street look bad. But having seen this documentary myself, I now must side with those papers in this very instance.
jotix100 Harry Markopolos, the man at the center of this documentary, had no clue into what he was about to embark, when his friend, Frank Casey, asked him to check the numbers in a firm that was the 'star' of the investment world. Mr. Casey's intention was to be able to comprehend the success of a powerful man in New York, one Bernard Madoff. It only took Harry five minutes to realize he was looking at the largest fraud perpetrated in the financial annals of the world.The documentary "Chasing Madoff"', conceived by its director, Jeff Prosserman, and based on the book written by Mr. Markopolos, while trying to clarify the way Mr. Madoff was able to fool everyone, is a dull piece of movie-making. The style the director uses does not add anything to the story that has been told and retold after the scandal broke in 2008. Mr. Markopolos and the other principals keep repeating themselves while the main villain of the story, Bernard Madoff is only a passing thought. Harry Markopolos had reasons to believe his life would be in danger. He became paranoid, expecting his death, or the harming to his family. His reports to the SEC went directly to the waste basket, so he should not have worried unnecessarily. The best thing in the documentary is the appearance of Congressman Gary Ackerman questioning the big shots of the SEC, the people who should have detected the fraud and sat idly by.
raypaquin Read the other reviews. There, you will find two schools of thought; those who rate this documentary ***very*** highly and those who rate is ***very*** poorly. What's going on ? This is, I believe, a microcosm of the United States today where simplistic ideology rules Washington. On one hand, you will find those who argue that more regulation is needed and, on the other hand, those who argue that less regulation is the cure because the bureaucrats in Washington are unable to regulate competently. The facts are that if your local firemen are incompetent, the solution is NOT to eliminate fire-fighters, as some right-wingers argue, but to insure that they are competent. The solution is also NOT to increase the number of firemen, as some left-wingers argue. Essentially, this documentary argues not from the viewpoint of Bernie Madoff's evil, but from the viewpoint of the incompetence of Washington bureaucrats. THAT is the truth.