Steineded How sad is this?

Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

littlebytesawards Good movie that moves between the real life case against Bernie Madoff the father of the largest Ponzi scheme in history, and the movie. Catch the acting in this well done movie, but none better than that of Richard Dreyfus playing Bernie Madoff. Mr. Dreyfus came out of retirement to play the part and a great job he does, becoming the sociopath Madoff. But that is not to say the rest of the cast is not up to the job. Honorable Mention behind Mr. Dreyfus is Blythe Danner as Ruth Madoff. She not only looks the part, but her acting is so well done one begins to believe she is Mrs. Madoff, given the fast pace of the movie and real video footage from the financial crisis. Usually a made for TV movie means some mediocre acting and sometimes substandard writing, but not this time!!! Catch this one and watch Mr. Dreyfus, an Academy Award winning actor, at his very best.

Charles Herold (cherold) Richard Dreyfuss gives a terrific performance as investment con man Bernie Madoff. He's an interesting character, dishonest to the core yet loyal and generous to his friends, although it's unclear whether he was genuinely generous or just interesting in keeping people loyal.It's fascinating to see the long con and how it unravels, and infuriating and disturbing to watch a lone crusader spend fruitless years trying to convince an inept SEC to investigate one of the great financial criminal.The great weakness of the film is that it overly focuses on Madoff's family, including an ungraceful attempt to use his family history of cancer as a symbol.I understand wanting to show how Madoff's actions hurt his family, and the actors are fine, particularly Blythe Danner (still, surprisingly, sexy in her 70s), but what Madoff did hurt so many more people than his family, and while that is shown, it is overshadowed by the rather dull family stuff.I feel the movie should have focused more on the crusader, or on the incompetence of the SEC. Or it could have just been pared down in length.Still, it's a fascinating story and Dreyfuss is a perfect Madoff.

MovieHoliks Wow; this is the closest thing I've seen to an ABC "movie of the week" in ages! I watched the first half of this two-part mini-series last night. The second half- "The Fall"- airs tonight. Oscar-winning screen legend, Richard Dreyfuss, plays the financial guru/con artist in this semi-biopic; but mostly covers the events leading up to, and tonight, following, his downfall. I saw a review online that said this movie almost makes you root for Bernie, and it does to an extent. It's actually quite humorous; although at times I get the feeling I'm laughing at parts that weren't meant to be funny-?? LOL Peter Scolari and Blythe Danner co-star.

Ed-Shullivan I was so pleased to hear that the A List actor Richard Dreyfuss (American Graffiti, Jaws, and The Goodbye Girl) signed on to play the U.S.A.'s biggest investment fraudster, the Ponzi scheme master, Bernie Madoff. From the beginning of the biographical film, Richard Dreyfuss narrates the Bernie Madoff biography and he walks us through his "modus operandi" how he conned so many smart and wealthy investors starting in 1960 when his accountant father-in-law introduces a young Bernie Madoff to his own circle of clients, as well as many elderly people who entrusted Bernie Madoff with their life savings. Bernie's method of convincing investors to continue investing with him was to tell his clients that he was prepared to immediately cut them a cheque for their entire investment plus interest but then they would not be allowed to invest with him again. Madoff had his brother, wife and sons working in his firm and as the story progresses we really are left to wonder whether or not they knew anything about the Ponzi scheme, or did they just believe in Bernie Madoff the investment guru, who was their husband, father or brother.Also agreeing to play in this non-sanctioned autobiography film "Madoff" are Blythe Danner as Bernie's wife, Peter Scolari as Bernie's brother Peter, Michael Rispoli as the behind the scenes book fixer, Charles Grodin as Carl Shapiro, Frank Whaley as a competitive broker named Harry Markopolos who figures out Bernie's secret method which is simply a fraud. Richard Dreyfuss's real life son Ben Dreyfuss plays the younger Bernie Madoff which makes it easier to believe the evolution of Bernie Madoff over the decades.Slowly the film peels away each layer of skin one by one, on this onion and we get to see the real Bernie Madoff as the scammer that he really is and then how the S.E.C. (Securities and Exchange Commissions) closes in on him to eventually stop the bleeding and the U.S.A.'s biggest Ponzi scheme. Since the film was originally released as a two part story and it was deluged with commercial breaks I look forward to purchasing the DVD version and watching the film the way it should be seen, without any commercial breaks. It is an excellent film with great insight into how easily thousands of investors were scammed for decades as long as the return on investments continued to be high and as Bernie would say "we need to continue to grow and find new investors". I give the film two thumbs up. Definitely worth investing your movie viewing time in, but not your money with Bernie Madoff who will remain in prison for his 150 year sentence.