There’s a fine moment in “Equity” that measures financial-world insanity as well anything in “The Wolf of Wall Street.” A seasoned investment banker, Naomi Bishop (Anna Gunn), is having a very bad day with the new IPO she’s managing.
In the middle of it all, she calls for one of her flunkies to deliver a chocolate-chip cookie. When he obliges, she morphs into a convincing impression of Mount St. Helens in 1980.
Holding up the cookie like Charlton Heston wielding the Ten Commandments, she verbally demolishes her assistant, pointing out that her cookie lacks the proper chocolateyness, and that having only three chocolate chips disqualifies this snack from being called a chocolate-chip cookie by definition.
It’s a funny moment in a movie that is mostly serious, and there’s some mystery to it, too. Is the nerves-of-steel Tiger Lady really losing it, or is this a little moment of theater — something she knows she needs to manufacture in order to be as feared as her male counterparts in the investment biz?
I wish more of “Equity” had that kind of loony edge, because mostly this film comes off as a clinical study of a system gone wrong. If “The Big Short” took the route of slapstick comedy to illuminate a corrupt process, “Equity” plays it ice-cold.
The Initial Public Offering Naomi prepares is for an internet-privacy company. A billion dollars is waiting to be made, unless rumors about the company’s supposedly airtight security are made public.
We’re told that something went sour with Naomi’s last IPO, so she’s under special scrutiny. It’s also implied that if she were a man, she wouldn’t be under the same pressure.
This is like peering into the “Wolf of Wall Street” world from a female perspective. As sharply played by “Breaking Bad” regular Gunn, Naomi has sacrificed most of her life in order to keep up with the boys — who look down on her anyway.
She’s got a no-strings relationship with a colleague (James Purefoy), and she treats her assistant (producer Sarah Megan Thomas) in the same dismissive way men probably treated Naomi 20 years earlier. Meanwhile, Naomi’s old school friend (Alysia Reiner) is now a lawyer investigating fraud.
The intrigue in Amy Fox’s screenplay is doled out in effective bursts. I couldn’t tell if Meera Menon’s utilitarian direction is meant to be as dry as it is, but it’s effective enough for this kind of chess match.
“Equity” makes its points. But it could have used more chocolate chips.
“Equity” (2 stars)
A peek into the “Wolf of Wall Street” world from a female perspective, as an investment banker (Anna Gunn) prepares a billion-dollar IPO. The movie makes its points in a clinical way that comes across as dry, though it has its share of scathing moments.
Rating: R, for language
Showing: Alderwood Mall, Meridian, Oak Tree, Sundance
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