We at DealBook often dream of reviewing movies for The New York Times (A.O. Scott, we're available if you want a vacation). And once in a while, a finance-oriented film comes along to pique our interest.
A new independent movie, “Supercapitalist,†incorporates modern-day tools (smartphones, computer data dumps) to the familiar villain of Wall Street greed. The film also touches on many of the business themes familiar to Wall Streeters: poison pills, short-selling, bets on Fed monetary policies and of course, wealth.
Though it may seem that financiers would shun anything that would cast them in a harsh light, the film's executive producers include Sam Kwok, who is a director at a venture capital firm focused on early-stage media and technology investment, and John Hsu, who manages his family's investment portfolio of stocks hedge funds, properties, private equity and venture capital.
The director, Simon Yin, also nods to the globalization of money that has shifted financial centers to other parts of the world. Although New York plays a major role, it is now Hong Kong that is main backdrop as Asia is the center for wealth and success.
Derek Ting â€" who is also producer and writer - plays Conner Lee, a smart, up-and-coming hedge fund trader in New York at a firm not-so-subtly named Supercapitalist Inc. Linus Roache assumes the role of the hedge fund's boss - a clean-cut Wall Streeter named Mark Patterson â€" while channeling a modern-day Gordon Gekko from the Oliver Stone film “Wall Street.â€
In the opening scene of “Supercapitalist,†Mark declares to clients the insider trading that is at the heart of “Wall Street.â€
“Back in the '80s and '90s, information was key,†he says with a gravelly voice. “Now it's a whole new game.†He soon adds, “Hedge funds, gentlemen, are the future.â€
Mark does business in a private jet, in a hotel room while having a romantic encounter and on th e patio of his Manhattan apartment, doing yoga with Apple ear buds in place. He and others in the film are recognizable characters of high finance, but their egomaniacal ways stoke a culture clash abroad.
Seeing Mark as a father figure and being the good solider, Conner trots out to Hong Kong, with just enough naïveté to see his mission - of managing a struggling investment, the fictional trading firm Fei & Chang - as a noble goal.
Conner also becomes a stand-in for the cold-hearted American business practices, as he proposes that the big family-run company in Hong Kong fire a good portion of its managers and sell assets to improve the bottom line.
In one scene in Hong Kong, an investment banker, Michael Baker (Jake Boswell), tells how he and his “banker friends†muscled a local eatery into adding English to its menu. “Classic M.&A.,†he says. Conner asks how the locals felt about the changes. “Locals? Who cares?†Michael says.
The Weste rn financiers treat Hong Kong as a playground. Conner's colleague, Quentin Wong (Darren E. Scott), has a loose interpretation of Guanxi, the Chinese concept of business relationships. To him, the practice involves projecting an image of excess wealth and using bribery to ferret out business information.
The film occasionally winks to the classics of the genre. In one scene, a boy shows off a computer game that lets players buy and sell companies. In one corner of the screen is a green button with three words: “Purchase Gekko Bonds.â€
While finance is at the heart of the movie, ultimately, it is family that is the core message of the movie, rather than greed is good.
“Supercapitalist†opens on Friday in New York, and later in Washington, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and is also available on video on demand on cable and on iTunes.
