It’s time for more of a fun post – my Top 10 Stock Market Movies!
Not only are these films thoroughly entertaining, but they’re also surprisingly educational. These stock market movies span a few decades and cover everything from big classics you’ve undoubtedly heard of to more obscure documentaries you may not be familiar with.
This group includes some of my very favourites on the stock market, investing and sales! Either way, if you love money, investing, trading stocks or the wall street lifestyle, you’ll probably enjoy these picks.
Wall Steet (1987)
IMDB Rating ★ (7.4/10)
Starring – Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Daryl Hannah
BlueStar Airlines, Anacott Steel… this is a classic among classics. Wall Street features a young stockbroker, “Bud Fox” played by Charlie Sheen, who is ambitious and looking to impress business mogul “Gordon Gekko” (Michael Douglas) at any cost. With an appropriate mixture of greased back hairstyles, bad suits, insider trader, a classic 80’s soundtrack and giant cell phones, what’s not to love about this? If you grew up in the 80’s, you’ll probably appreciate this movie even more!
Margin Call (2011)
IMDB Rating ★ (7.1/10)
Starring – Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Demi Moore
Remember the financial crisis of 2008? Of course, you do. Margin Call is a fantastic movie that puts you behind the scenes at an investment bank that’s gotten itself into a rather large predicament. So gather the C-Suite around the boardroom table so the resident quant can brief them with a confident yet terrified look on his face. Now how do we task our brokers with unloading hundreds of millions of dollars worth of soon-to-be worthless stock in a single days’ trading session? Anyone who loves finance and the markets should find this movie pretty damn entertaining, and to top things off, it provides a surprisingly stacked, all-star cast.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
IMDB Rating ★ (8.2/10)
Starring – Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey
Based on the true story of Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), a wealthy stockbroker who rose to riches via rather unscrupulous means. This movie is unquestionably one of the wildest, longest and craziest on the topic of the Wall Street trading lifestyle. A brief summation of this movie requires a possibly unpalatable word salad, including Lambos, models, drugs, delinquents, debauchery, super-yachts, fat stacks, coke lines and midgets. Need I say more? If this hasn’t piqued your curiosity, then probably nothing will. The Wolf of Wall Street is a must-watch flick for anyone who loves the stock market, trading, or just laughing at a crazy and action-packed, real-life inspired story.
Boiler Room (2000)
IMDB Rating ★ (7.0/10)
Starring – Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Jamie Kennedy, Ben Affleck
This movie is undoubtedly one of my absolute favourites, with great lines and excellent replay value. Boiler Room begins with Seth (Giovanni Ribisi), a young college dropout who discovers his new business of dealing cards to other college kids may be a lot more lucrative than finishing his degree. After being reamed out by his well-intentioned father, he decides to take a more respectable path in life, training to be a stockbroker, starting initially by cold-calling leads at a relatively new brokerage, “J T Marlin.” Seth quickly discovers that his choice of a firm may not be the legitimate outfit he first anticipated.
The Big Short (2015)
IMDB Rating ★ (8.2/10)
Starring – Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt
The Big Short is another one of my favourite movies and has to rank up there with the very best stock market and investing films. Big stars and bigger performances, this feature covers the collapse of the housing market in America and how a single bet and prediction made one man an investing legend. Michael Burry (Christian Bale) suspects something is amiss and begins rummaging through thousands of mortgage contracts only to confirm his suspicions. Burry, along with Mark Baum (Steve Carrell) and some young hedge fund guys, running an investment fund out of their garage, stumble upon an extensive trail of financial stupidity and corruption.
Trading Places (1983)
IMDB Rating ★ (7.5/10)
Starring – Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd
Trading places is a lighter movie, a quirky comedy that, while showing it’s age a little, still delivers the goods and the laughs. A wealthy investor (Dan Aykroyd) and a con artist prowling the streets (Eddie Murphy) switch places (and lives) and end up experiencing how the other half lives. While the premiss is much less serious than most of the other films listed here, this is a great comedy featuring two big stars earlier in their careers.
Inside Job (2010)
IMDB Rating ★ (8.2/10)
Narrated by – Matt Damon
The financial crisis of 2008 reveals itself again, this time in documentary form. Everyone thought the behemoth banks in the US were too big to fail, but they were dead wrong. Inside Job (narrated by Matt Damon) gives some behind-the-scenes insights into some of the more unscrupulous behaviour of key players involved in the financial meltdown of 2008. With the long list of interviews and storylines, you can witness first-hand how greed and corruption can accumulate into a terrible situation for the average citizen who’s usually left footing the bill.
Enron, the Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
IMDB Rating ★ (7.6/10)
Directed by – Alex Gibney
The Smartest Guys in the Room (The Enron Story) is a documentary with loads of interviews and narratives explaining how Enron Corporation managed to continue operating its fraudulent business practices for a considerable period undetected. This scandal resulted in criminal trials for company executives and an electricity disaster in California, thanks to unscrupulous Enron commodity traders.
Rogue Trader (1999)
IMDB Rating ★ (6.4/10)
Starring – Ewan McGregor, Anna Friel, Cristian Solimeno
Rogue Trader follows the true story of investment broker Nick Leeson (Ewan McGregor), who ends up pretty much, single-handedly bringing down British merchant bank Barings. Chasing losses and getting involved in fraudulent trades and futures contracts in attempts to hide them, Leeson lost as much as £50 million British pounds in a single day. Barings Bank eventually collapsed in 1995 after losing a total of £827 million. This movie illustrates why the financial industry requires not only strong regulation, but also a code of ethics and standards in order to operate efficiently – or period.
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
IMDB Rating ★ (7.7/10)
Starring – Al Pacino, Jack Lemon, Alec Baldwin, Kevin Spacey
Alright, maybe not exactly a stock market movie, but Glengarry Glen Ross gets an honourable mention. This movie features timeless dialogue and a shady and predatory aura that hangs over the main cast of characters. I can’t think of a more suitable group of gentlemen if you were looking to assemble a boiler room from scratch. Whether you’re selling junk bonds or junk real estate, the same magic rule applies – Always Be Closing! I mean, you’d rather win a brand new Cadillac than a knife set, right?
Hmm, I haven’t watched a SINGLE ONE of these movies! 🙈 Will I be thrown out of the PF community now?!
As much as I love talking and writing about money, I have never had any interest in movies like these. Not sure why! Maybe I should give one try!
This list will be a good place for me to start. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Most of these are a lot more along the lines of entertainment than educational, that’s for sure. 🙂
I think we can forgive you for not watching any of these, I’d say they’re pretty geared towards a male audience.
I’d start with the Big Short if I were recommending one specifically to you.