Madoff- ABC Mini Series

Did anyone catch the Madoff mini series last week? My wife and I really enjoyed it. I thought the pacing was a little too quick at times but Dreyfuss turns in a fantastic performance, as does Blythe Danner. What did you all think about it?

 

I did watch it, but it seemed kinda cheap and low-key, sort of lacking in drama (for lack of a better word). The reviews were better than I expected, but I found it a bit dull. I felt like it was a very simplified version of a much more complicated story. It was amazing how close the actors looked compared to the people they were portraying (revealed in the closing credits).

The latest news is that there was some other Ponzi-scheme guy further up the chain than Madoff, and the feds were able to retrieve $9 billion from him and are returning it to some of the victims:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100454360

 

we loved it and Richard Dreyfuss was fabulous! I disagree on all counts...it wasn't overacted nor overblown...I felt they nailed it without the usual Hollywood crap...Simplified? no way.

 

I also think it was a very, very ugly-looking film. I dunno what the hell they did, but the whole thing was way too yellow and soft. They also went nuts with the smoke on the 17th floor. I kept asking, "when is somebody gonna call the fire department?" Terrible-looking show.

I'll say this: the level of acting was very good, though I think the background players didn't have enough to do a lot of the time. There were some interesting little moments, like with the New Jersey guy who played the head accountant/CFO, and with Madoff's secretary. Both did very good jobs.

 

yes, Michael Rispoli... he was in the Sopranos, Kick Ass and some of Mob movies...
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0728346/?ref_=tt_cl_t8

 

Most disappointing.

 

Who played (Mets owner) Fred Wilpon?

 

I didn't catch the first showing in Feb., but I watched an hour last week and the 2 hours last night.

Dreyfuss was good enough, but it was Blythe Danner's portrayal of Ruth Madoff that, for me, gave the mini-series the depth that made it more than mindless stuff to watch on TV.
Also there for character depth was Frank Whaley's portrayal of investigator Harry Markopolos. Those are the two standouts for me.

For me, the key line of the entire mini-series was when Madoff, upon hearing about the 2008 financial meltdown, told his wife, "Yes, I ran the world's largest Ponzi scheme....but all of that was just a drop in the bucket of the bigger Ponzi scheme that is the world financial system."

That's not an exact quote, but the gist of what I thought he said. It put in perspective, the awful crime he did, in comparison to the unregulated/under-regulated aspects of the financial banking world.

 

For regular television, it was Shakespeare.

 

Yes, I see