Margin Call (2011)

For a good while it’s able to coast on its well-crafted rising tension (you know shit’s going down even if you don’t understand all the corporate jargon) but once the stakes are made clear it starts to feel as bloated as everyone’s wallets: half the characters are pointless, the others are rich white men we don’t care about (Bettany’s great though), and the vague melodramatic dialogue hits the wall hard: “Are you sure it’s the only or right thing to do?” “For who?” “I’m not sure” “Neither am I”.

6

Ghost (1990)

After an accident leaves a young man dead, his spirit stays behind to warn his lover of impending danger, with the help of a reluctant psychic. (IMDb)

A misguided jumble of genres: The romance is repetitive (cue the corny love song, awkward medium third wheel [“Tell her…”; “He says…”] and slow touching), the supernatural element is consistently cheesy and visually awful (the dragging to hell and ascending to heaven are particularly distasteful), and the comedy is nothing special (Goldberg is alright but the writing is mostly forced). Leading man Swayze, meanwhile, gives a good effort but it’s just hard to take him seriously.

5.5/10 (Poor)

Disclosure (1994)

A computer specialist is sued for sexual harassment by a former lover turned boss who initiated the act forcefully, which threatens both his career and his personal life. (IMDb)

Takes a while to get going, plodding through thick and uninteresting corporate jargon before the raunchy pivotal scene sets it in motion. Unfortunately, the protagonist’s tainted innocence makes him hard to root for, and he was never particularly likeable in the first place–adding a dryness to an already dated and stuffy-feeling film, with its drab 90s office setting and laughable VR animation. Decent legal drama with a couple of good twists manage to keep this film afloat, but only barely.

6/10 (Mediocre)