In Wall Street, the successful trader (Michael Douglas) says: "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms."
Now in another film about Wall Street, a female investment banker in a speech to a group of professional women states: "I like money . . . " and then goes on to baptize her greed as something to be proud of and to treat with respect. This thriller has been written and directed by women but they give us the old familiar themes of corruption, mayhem, and sweaty palms we've come to expect in movies about the financial system.
At the hub of this meditation on the poisons of capitalism is Naomi Bishop (Anna Gunn) whose fast-track career as an investment banker has been momentarily derailed after an I.P.O. she was handling resulted in criticism of her by the client. Her boss tells her, "This is not your year," but that only spurs her on to land a big new account. She wants to take public a British social media company called Cachet, founded by entrepreneur (Samuel Roukin), which she will pitch as a "privacy company." But she is decked by rumors from programmers that it is vulnerable to security breaches.
Two other key female players in these corporate games are Samantha (Alysia Reiner), a prosecutor working for the U.S. Attorney's office and lusting after a big trial, convictions for insider traders, and a chance to advance her career. She eventually investigates Naomi who is troubled by the aggressiveness and possible betrayal of her younger associate Erin (Sarah Megan Thomas). She also begins to suspect her own lover (James Purefoy) may be undermining the I.P.O. given his penchant for viewing corporate wheeling and dealing as nothing more than "a game."
The screenplay by Amy Fox does take note of Wall Street sexism, women's fear that pregnancy will kill their advancement, and the power plays of male executives who enjoy humiliating women when they get the chance. Still, one thing is crystal clear: the business world would not change very much if women were in charge. The ethical disarray of Wall Street and elsewhere is not gender-based but human-based.