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The problem with having festival commitments is that there are days when you can manage to see only one movie before deadline, while your colleagues are seeing two, three or — heaven forbid — more. But the sting, or at least the vague feeling of inadequacy, is lessened when that one movie exceeds your expectations. Margin Call is a thriller of sorts (though it’s also something of a comedy, albeit a grim one) set in the early days of the financial crisis, a fictionalized but all too believable account of one crucial day at a Wall Street investment firm. It’s also the debut feature of writer-director J.C. Chandor, and while it hits a few false notes, it’s still a remarkably assured piece of filmmaking. You may not think you want to sit through a nondocumentary film about the financial meltdown — I sure didn’t. But Margin Call, like money itself, is weirdly seductive; it wheedles you into caring about characters you don’t particularly like, without ever expecting you to approve of their behavior.

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Berlinale Dispatch: Zachary Quinto, Margin Call Top Fest’s First Full Day