A top-rate re-telling of the largest Ponzi scheme in American history.
When the Bernie Madoff story broke in December 2008, it seemed to be one of those stories which had a life of its own. Most everyone had heard about it and virtually no one could believe it. How could one of the most trusted financiers in Wall Street’s history, who had a list of credentials, titles and honors as long as his arm and had helped draft many of the industry’s regulations, have been perhaps one of the coldest monsters who ever lived? While it doesn’t give a definitive answer to this, and so many other questions those affected and disgusted by Bernie Madoff still have, HBO Films’ The Wizard of Lies makes an incredibly solid effort to shed some light on a scandal with the continued ability to astound.
Based on Diana B. Henriques non-fiction book of the same name, The Wizard of Lies recounts the events leading up to the arrest and incarceration of Bernie Madoff (Robert De Niro), the disgraced financier convicted of carrying out the largest ponzi scheme in history, robbing everyone from celebrities to working-class retirees through years of phony investments and returns. Directed by Barry Levinson, the film examines how Bernie managed to deceive everyone he came into contact with, including his investors, sons Mark and Andrew (Alessandro Nivola and Nathan Darrow) and even his own wife Ruth (Michelle Pfeiffer.)
One one level, The Wizard of Lies unfolds like a 21st century Greek tragedy. It’s hard not to see this high reigning king, his queen and their two princes whose whose lives were all destroyed thanks to old-fashioned arogance and greed. When we first meet the Madoffs, they’re living the high life. Mark and Andrew run the advisory side of their father’s business (a branch separate from the one which housed the fraudulent fund), while Ruth was a prominent member of high society as Bernie presided over it all until the he was forced to admit to his family that it was all a sham. Almost immediately when the truth comes out, Ruth is shunned from her upscale beauty parlor, Andrew finds himself having to atone for his father’s sins and Mark quickly starts to become unhinged all as an incarcerated Bernie fails to show any real emotion or remorse for his decades of deceit. There are number of scenes where we see Mark and Andrew probing their father about the side of the business they’ve never been let into, with the former saying: “I don’t understand,” before being cut off by Bernie who shouts out: “No, you don’t understand! You don’t have to understand!” The question has always been up in the air as to how much and how long Ruth and the boys did indeed know about Bernie’s actions, but regardless, The Wizard of Lies offers up the Madoffs as a family whose lives underwent changes of Shakesperean proportions thanks to the one man they trusted the most.
The other side to The Wizard of the Lies proves to be a somewhat fascinating portrait of a sociopath. Bernie as a person is shown to be calm and cool, even in times of dire emergency, while an outburst can be triggered at the drop of a hat. The character’s tyrannical side is best illustrated in two key scenes, one in which he insists Mark try some expensive lobster instead of the steak he has chosen, despite the fact that his son doesn’t like lobster. The other is in the moment when he calls out Ruth for scuffing the hallway with her suitcase, leading her to condescendingly reply: “I’m sorry I scuffed the hallway, Bernie,” in a manner similar to that of a mother with a pouting child. While there is no yelling in either instance, Bernie’s self-loathing and need for control are front and center. It’s easy to spot both the protection and shame Bernie feels in the moments when he refuses to let his sons into the world of the fraud, forever keeping that side of his life private. However what’s so enthralling is how Bernie depended on his reputation to do the manipulating for him. A scene at a Palm Beach Thanksgiving party where a wealthy businessman desperately wants to invest plays out like a dance with Bernie (whose fund is secretly on the verge of collapse) calmy goes back and forth with the potential client becoming hungrier and hungrier until he’s ready to invest $400 million. It’s a mentality of a man accusing his victims of being money-hungry, who in the end couldn’t even admit to his ponzi scheme failing, even as he sat in prison.
On a technical level, The Wizard of Lies is largely on point. Levinson and his production team have gone to the greatest of lengths to ensure that the world of the Madoff’s is replicated to the fullest. From the upscale penthouse apartment, to the cold steeliness of the main headquarters, to the seedy, dimly-lit offices on the 15th floor where the majority of the fraud was carried out, the world of Bernie Madoff is done up to the extreme. The script meanwhile offers plenty of great moments for all the characters. “Even if you had told me, I’m not sure I would have turned you in,” Ruth tells Bernie during a prison visit before adding: “I don’t know what that says about me.” The moments where the film spotlights Madoff’s victims may be the starkest the film gets, showing one individual taking his own life as a result of Bernie’s actions and others reading testimonials during his sentencing. While there are a couple moments that ring a little too on the nose (such as the prelude to Mark’s suicide and the flashback to a Madoff-hosted party on the Hamptons which sees the entire family dancing to “Sweet Caroline,”) there’s little that ever rings false about The Wizard of Lies.
Any notions that De Niro has been lacking in terms of commitment when it comes to his recent on-screen turns can be put to rest here. Not only does the actor literally transform himself into Bernie beyond just capitalizing on their shared features, but the role gives him some of his best moments as an actor in some time. This is a brave performance which calls the acting legend to go to a variety of places, from lashing out at a small child to taking a surreal trip down a sleeping pill-infused rabbit hole, all of which De Niro throws himself into with abandon. However it’s the way he slowly unveils the different levels of the man’s dark psyche, whether through pensive looks or unexpected outbursts (“What do you think, the whole f***ing world owes you something? The whole f***ing world owes you nothing,” he shouts at Mark) that remains a chilling example of the kind of actor De Niro remains. “Do you think I’m a sociopath,” he earnestly asks in the film’s final moments, ensuring this chilling incarnation stays with the viewer.
Like De Niro, Pfeiffer is able to morph into Ruth almost seamlessly despite being more than a full decade younger than the woman herself. Pfeiffer’s role may seem like a write-off; the New York socialite whose stripped of her fortune. Yet there’s so much more to the part, especially in the actress’s beyond capable hands. Pfeiffer is able to bring out Ruth’s anguish at having to choose between the only love she’s known most of her life and her children, who ultimately abandon her. “He’s my whole entire memory,” she says at one point. “I don’t know anything else,” echoing the sentiment of a woman who has unknowingly let her life pass her by. At the same time, Pfeiffer perfectly captures the woman’s dry sense of humor, even in the face of being publicly vilified herself. “Why does the world hate me; they all think I’m some kind of a mastermind,” she tells Bernie. “C’mon that’s ridiculous. Anyone who knows you, knows you weren’t involved,” he says trying to reassure her. “Thanks,” she says. “I already wanna kill myself, you’re trying to make me feel worse?”
The rest of the performances are something of a mixed bag. Nivola and Lily Rabe (as Andrew’s girlfriend Catherine) rise up to the level of the project they’re in, infusing their characters with just the right levels of heartache and grief. The same can’t be said for Darrow and Kristen Connolly (as Mark’s wife Stephanie), who come off as stiff and vacant, respectively, despite giving it their all. Apart from the film’s leads, the two other names in the cast who soar are Henriques (who proves a worthy scene partner for De Niro, playing herself in the recreation of the prison interviews she conducted with the real Madoff) and Hank Azaria who brings the sleaziness and devotion of Bernie’s secret right hand man Frank DiPascali to life.
The Wizard of Lies spent quite a number of years in the works. The main stumbling block facing the film was that no studio could be found to take it on. Some turned down the film fearing its content too unpleasant or “not audience friendly” enough, while others didn’t want to fork over the cash needed to bring the somewhat lavish story to life. Ultimately, HBO proved the perfect place to mount the production with its penchant for telling stories which, although sometimes dark, are never anything short of diverting. The result was some of the best numbers for an HBO movie in years, Emmy nominations for De Niro, Pfeiffer and the film itself, as well as one of the most compelling explorations into story which continues to remain as unbelievable as the day it broke.
The Package
The one special feature here is a brief behind-the-scenes interview segment featuring De Niro, Pfeiffer and Levinson.
The Lowdown
The Wizard of Lies is a stellar example of both the glory of HBO movies as well as true story dramas.
The Wizard of Lies is now available on Blu-Ray and DVD from HBO Home Entertainment.
