For a film shot in dimly lit offices inhabited by unattractively driven men in suits barking financial twaddle at one other, it was surprisingly involving.

| Sep 1, 2020

As a documentary, Too Big to Fail was excellent, with credible performances, a taut script and the expected HBO varnish. As a drama, its flaw was that for all the alpha male hubris on display, there was no redemptive suffering.

| Sep 1, 2020

The standout performance comes from Hurt, whose careworn Paulson is at the centre of the maelstrom that has had such a serious impact on the global economy. It's informative but gripping and scary, too.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 1, 2020

As gripping as any episode of "24" in its heyday...

| Jun 26, 2018

You feel all the anguish, desperation, humor, and, yes, gallantry of the moment.

| Jun 26, 2018

Although it's handsomely directed and competently acted, Too Big, even with its narrow focus on the events of fall 2008, tackles too much story with too little narrative drive.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jun 26, 2018

Too Big to Fail ultimately comes off as a talky, surprisingly dull drama that all-too-often feels a reenactment on a financial news network.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 26, 2018

Without taking an partisan position on what happened... Too Big To Fail simply and clearly explicates a chilling moment in recent history. And for that, it has value.

| Jun 26, 2018

What keeps Too Big To Fail from being a dry run through recent history is its lightning pace, in which the stakes of the nation remain keenly at the forefront.

| Original Score: B | Jun 26, 2018

Takes a topic that could have felt like homework and turns it into effective entertainment - even if that entertainment might teach you something along the way.

| Jun 26, 2018

Unfortunately, though the film tries to get across all the machinations as swiftly and as simply as possible, it's a lot of people sitting around and talking... It's just... all at the service of delivering exposition.

| Jun 26, 2018

Just a dramatized synopsis in which some noble cynics guard our citadel. It is hardboiled-instead of admitting that the egg just exploded.

| Jun 26, 2018

The movie... captures the frustration of government officials as each hole they patched was followed by an even bigger leak.

| Jun 26, 2018

HBO's rendition of the Wall Street meltdown still manages to feel fresh, entertaining, and even educational. But does it get to the point?

| Jun 26, 2018

You know you're in trouble when you're watching a film and, in real time, in your mind's eye, you're watching some alternate film that's much better - more daring, more fun, more something, but most importantly, a different film.

| Original Score: 0.5/4 | Jun 25, 2018

Too Big to Fail is a chronicle of recent events... But it fails to transform those events into anything valuable or special, beyond docudramatic re-creation. Ultimately, it's scope is too big, and it fails.

| Jun 25, 2018

The movie may do an adequate job of mining what's left of our collective outrage, but it comes up short as an artistic expression of post-recession catharsis.

| Jun 25, 2018

Pretty consistent low-key entertainment if not exactly enlightening (because it is an impersonation of the truth) or gripping (because we already know how it sort of ends).

| Jun 25, 2018

The movie is a tense vignette with a nonending.

| Jun 25, 2018

At its best, Too Big to Fail captures the inherent dysfunction in the system, which ensures that a perfect solution - especially against the backdrop of an election year - is never an option.

| Jun 25, 2018