Unlike compelling stories of high finance and crime in films like the Thomas Crown Affair and Rollover, Rogue Trader purports to be the true story of Nick Leeson, a stock trader whose speculation brought down Barings, England's oldest bank. McGregor portrays Leeson as a charmer white collar criminal who ended up sentenced to six years in a Chinese prison for insider trading and fraud. Diagnosed with cancer, Leeson wrote his memoirs and low and behold it became a film.
Always a solid performer, Ewan McGregor plays the self-absorbed, arrogant Leeson with his usual competence and energy. Anna Friel is his in the dark wife who yearns to be pregnant but can't interest her husband away from the trading floor. This is story of greed, larceny, and speculation on a grand scale. The film was never released in theaters but went straight to Showtime and has now been released for home sale. Skip it and rent it. Good acting, good story, but not a very compelling item for collectors of McGregor's work.
Always a solid performer, Ewan McGregor plays the self-absorbed, arrogant Leeson with his usual competence and energy. Anna Friel is his in the dark wife who yearns to be pregnant but can't interest her husband away from the trading floor. This is story of greed, larceny, and speculation on a grand scale. The film was never released in theaters but went straight to Showtime and has now been released for home sale. Skip it and rent it. Good acting, good story, but not a very compelling item for collectors of McGregor's work.