Assault on Wall Street

Last updated
Assault on Wall Street
Assault on Wall Street.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Uwe Boll
Written byUwe Boll
Produced byDaniel Clarke
Starring Dominic Purcell
Erin Karpluk
Edward Furlong
John Heard
Keith David
Michael Paré
Eric Roberts
CinematographyMathias Neumann
Edited byThomas Sabinsky
Music byJessica de Rooij
Production
companies
Event Film
Lynn Peak
Distributed by Phase 4 Films
Release date
  • July 30, 2013 (2013-07-30)
Running time
99 minutes
CountriesUnited States
Canada
LanguageEnglish

Assault on Wall Street (also known as Attack on Wall Street and formerly known as Bailout: The Age of Greed) [1] is a 2013 action thriller film written and directed by Uwe Boll and starring Dominic Purcell, Erin Karpluk, Edward Furlong and Keith David. [2] It tells the story of a security guard who struggles to pay for his wife's medical bills and loses his investments in the financial crisis of 2007–2008, prompting a shooting spree on Wall Street after his wife takes her own life.

Contents

Plot

In the midst of the financial crisis of 2007–2008, a portfolio-manager instructs his employees to neglect the best interests of clients in order to increase company profits.

Meanwhile, Jim Baxford (Dominic Purcell), an armored car driver and former soldier, lives with his wife, Rosie, in New York City. Rosie is in the process of recovering from a near-fatal brain tumor. Their health insurance has reached its limit, and Jim finds that he is unable to afford her treatment. He decides to cash in the pension he earned from serving in the military, but learns that much of it is lost as a result of bad investments on the part of his financial adviser. In addition, he finds himself in a $60,000 lawsuit as a result of bad real-estate investments conducted by his rogue financial adviser.

Jim frequently lunches with a colleague in the armored car business, and two NYPD friends. He borrows $10,000 from the colleague to pay for an attorney to sue his financial adviser, and arranges a meeting with an assistant district attorney to discuss wrongdoings on the part of his financial advisers. However, the attorney he hired claims that he is unable to do anything and the assistant district attorney is unwilling to meet with him. Jim becomes frustrated at the loss of his money and his inability to pay for his wife's treatment and their mortgage. Because of his financial situation, his employer reluctantly fires him, as the company is not willing to trust him with large sums of money.

Rosie feels guilty for the financial strain that her illness has put on Jim and, unable to cope, commits suicide. Jim blames Wall Street financiers for ruining his life. Seeking vengeance, he purchases various firearms and grenades from an arms dealer, and begins a one-man army shooting spree on the Wall Street bosses that lost his money and contributed to the death of his wife. One by one, he kills those that have wronged him. Meeting with his friends at lunch, Jim casually admits to them that he is the Wall Street murderer. The three laugh it off, convinced he's joking.

The climax of the film has Jim staging a one-man assault and infiltration of a high-rise office building to confront and kill Jeremy Stancroft, a ruthless and greedy portfolio manager who is indirectly responsible for Jim's financial situation. Sitting at Jeremy's desk, Jim tells Jeremy why he is targeting him, of his corruption and asks why he should let Jeremy live. Jeremy defends his actions, saying that the famous rich people of history didn't get rich by honest work and that capitalism is a survival of the fittest society, where the "strong survive and the weak die off". Jim shows him a picture of his wife and tells Jeremy he's the reason his wife is dead. Shortly as SWAT begins to approach the office, Jim puts the gun on the table and counts to three. Jeremy grabs the gun when Jim gets to two, bragging about how he "won". Jim accuses him of cheating. Not caring, Jeremy pulls the trigger, only to realize that the gun is empty, for Jim cheated too. Just then, SWAT smashes the window and shoots Jeremy dead. Jim pretends to be an innocent wounded victim, having been shot in the arm by a security guard earlier, and is escorted away by SWAT, who is convinced Stancroft was the perpetrator.

A few minutes later, Jim stands in the lobby of the office building. He watches emergency personnel come and go, having just been treated for the gunshot wound to his arm. He is recognized there by his NYPD lunchmates, who had been called to the scene. Without a word, Jim is led out of the building by his friend to the street, to freedom. The film ends with Jim walking away, voicing over that he intends to continue his killing spree of white-collar businessmen elsewhere. [3]

Cast

Production

Background

Director Uwe Boll was inspired by a song by Distant 2nd called "Murder on Wall Street" and wrote scenes in the movie to incorporate ideas from the song. He began work on the film in 2010 and did a lot of research into the financial crisis of 2007–2008. [4] Around this time, Boll spoke with victims and people affected by the crisis and also started talking to a professor in the bailout commission in Germany. [4]

Filming

Assault on Wall Street was shot on location in and around Vancouver, British Columbia, [5] and also in New York City. [1] Director Uwe Boll stated in an interview that even though he was given permission to shoot scenes in New York, he was not permitted to shoot in Central Park or the subway. Even though there were these obstacles whilst filming in New York, Boll states that he shot the movie "guerrilla style" and still filmed in places that he was unable to get a permit to film in. [1] Boll stated that "The good thing is in New York, everybody is very busy so you don't have people paying a lot of attention to you if you shoot somewhere". [1]

Reception

The reaction to Assault on Wall Street has been mainly negative. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 25% of 8 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3.1/10. [6] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 24 out of 100, based on 4 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews. [7] Despite this, it was better-received than most of Boll's films.

Related Research Articles

<i>S.W.A.T.</i> (film) 2003 film directed by Clark Johnson

S.W.A.T. is a 2003 American action crime thriller film directed by Clark Johnson and written by David Ayer and David McKenna, with the story credited to Ron Mita and Jim McClain. Produced by Neal H. Moritz, it is based on the 1975 television series of the same name and stars Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodriguez, LL Cool J, Josh Charles, Jeremy Renner, Brian Van Holt and Olivier Martinez. The plot follows Hondo (Jackson) and his SWAT team as they are tasked to escort an imprisoned drug kingpin/international fugitive to prison after he offers a $100 million reward to anyone who can break him out of police custody.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uwe Boll</span> German filmmaker

Uwe Boll is a German filmmaker. He came to prominence during the 2000s for his adaptations of popular video game franchises. Released theatrically, the films were critical and commercial failures; his 2005 Alone in the Dark adaptation is considered by many critics to be one of the worst films ever made. Boll's films during the 2010s, comprising mostly original projects and independent movies, received home media releases to better reviews. After retiring in 2016 to become a restaurateur, Boll eventually returned to filmmaking in 2022. His films are financed through his production companies Boll KG and Event Film Productions.

John J. Mack is a senior advisor to the investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and the former CEO and chairman of the board at Morgan Stanley, the New York–based investment bank and brokerage firm.

<i>In the Name of the King</i> 2007 film by Uwe Boll

In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, also known as Dungeon Siege: In the Name of the King or simply In the Name of the King, is a 2007 German-American action-fantasy film directed by Uwe Boll and starring Jason Statham, Claire Forlani, Leelee Sobieski, John Rhys-Davies, Ron Perlman and Ray Liotta. It is inspired by the Dungeon Siege video game series. The English-language film was an international co-production and filmed in Canada. It premiered at the Brussels Festival of Fantastic Films in April 2007 and was released in theatres in November 2007.

<i>Postal</i> (film) 2007 action comedy film

Postal is a 2007 action comedy film co-written and directed by Uwe Boll, and starring Zack Ward, Dave Foley, Chris Coppola, Jackie Tohn, J.K. Simmons, Verne Troyer, Larry Thomas, David Huddleston and Seymour Cassel.

<i>Seed</i> (2007 film) 2007 Canadian film

Seed is a 2007 Canadian horror film written, produced, and directed by Uwe Boll. Filming ran from July 17 to August 11, 2006 in British Columbia, Canada, on a $10 million budget.

<i>BloodRayne: The Third Reich</i> 2011 vampire film

BloodRayne: The Third Reich is a 2011 direct-to-DVD vampire action film written by Michael Nachoff and directed by Uwe Boll, and starring Natassia Malthe as dhamphir Agent Rayne and Michael Paré as vampire Nazi officer Ekart Brand. Set in 1943 Europe during World War II, it is the third and final installment of the BloodRayne film trilogy, based on the video game series of the same name. It is a sequel to BloodRayne and BloodRayne 2: Deliverance, also directed by Boll. It is the second BloodRayne film to star Malthe after BloodRayne 2: Deliverance. Paré, who played Iancu in BloodRayne and Pat Garrett in BloodRayne 2: Deliverance, plays yet another character in this film. BloodRayne: The Third Reich received negative reviews.

<i>The Final Storm</i> (film) 2010 Canadian film

The Final Storm is a 2010 apocalyptic thriller film directed by Uwe Boll and written by Canadian screenwriter Tim McGregor.

<i>Rampage</i> (2009 film) 2009 Canadian film

Rampage is a 2009 action film written and directed by Uwe Boll and starring Brendan Fletcher, Michael Paré, Shaun Sipos and Lynda Boyd. It received a theatrical release in Germany, though was released direct-to-video in the rest of the world. It was Boll's first film to gain mainly positive reviews. The film was followed by two sequels Rampage: Capital Punishment (2014) and Rampage: President Down (2016).

<i>Straw Dogs</i> (2011 film) 2011 American film

Straw Dogs is a 2011 American action thriller film directed, produced, and written by Rod Lurie. It is a remake of Sam Peckinpah's 1971 film Straw Dogs, itself based on the Gordon Williams novel The Siege of Trencher's Farm. It stars James Marsden and Kate Bosworth.

<i>In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds</i> 2011 film

In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds is a 2011 fantasy adventure film directed by Uwe Boll. The film stars Dolph Lundgren, Natassia Malthe and Lochlyn Munro. It is the sequel to the 2007's In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale starring Jason Statham. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United States and Canada on December 27, 2011. The German bluray release included its 3D version.

<i>S.W.A.T.</i> (1975 TV series) 1975 American television series

S.W.A.T. is an American police procedural action crime drama television series created by Robert Hamner, developed by Rick Husky, and produced by Hamner, Aaron Spelling, and Leonard Goldberg under Spelling-Goldberg Productions. The series aired for two seasons on ABC from February 1975 to April 1976. A spin-off of The Rookies, developed from a two-part pilot aired on February 17, 1975, S.W.A.T. follows a police Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team operating in an unnamed Californian city. The series stars Steve Forrest, Robert Urich, Rod Perry, Mark Shera, and James Coleman as the titular team's officers.

<i>Sanctimony</i> (film) 2000 American film

Sanctimony is a 2000 crime/horror/thriller film starring Casper Van Dien, Michael Paré and Eric Roberts. It was written and directed by Uwe Boll. The film was released in late 2000.

<i>Reasonable Doubt</i> (2014 film) 2014 Canadian film

Reasonable Doubt is a 2014 Canadian-German crime thriller film directed by Peter Howitt and written by Peter A. Dowling. The film stars Samuel L. Jackson, Dominic Cooper, Erin Karpluk, Gloria Reuben and Ryan Robbins. It received generally negative reviews from critics.

<i>Rampage: Capital Punishment</i> 2014 American film

Rampage: Capital Punishment is a 2014 action film and a direct sequel to the 2009 film Rampage. It is directed by Uwe Boll and was released on August 19, 2014. A third film in the series was released in 2016, Rampage: President Down.

<i>In the Name of the King 3: The Last Mission</i> 2014 Canadian film

In The Name of the King 3: The Last Mission is a 2014 action fantasy film co-produced and directed by Uwe Boll. Starring Dominic Purcell, it is the third entry in the series, and the sequel to 2011's In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds.

<i>Rampage: President Down</i> 2016 action thriller film by Uwe Boll

Rampage: President Down is a 2016 Canadian action thriller film directed by Uwe Boll.

<i>Amoklauf</i> 1994 film by Uwe Boll

Amoklauf is a 1994 German horror film written and directed by Uwe Boll. Boll's third feature, it established a number of directorial trademarks that would recur throughout the filmmakers's career, such as a scene involving a mass shooting, and a premise that revolves around "psychologically disturbed men and intersecting systems of oppression conspiring to unleash the violent potential within them."

The Herkimer County shootings were a shooting spree that took place on March 13, 2013, in Herkimer County, New York.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Fred Topel (2013-05-13). "Exclusive Interview: Uwe Boll on Assault on Wall Street". CraveOnline. Retrieved 2014-02-15.
  2. ↑ "Assault-on-Wall-Street - Cast, Crew, Director and Awards". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-12-25. Retrieved 2014-02-15.
  3. ↑ "Assault on Wall Street (2013)". FilmAffinity. Retrieved 2014-02-15.
  4. 1 2 Kurp, Josh (2013-05-09). "Uwe Boll 'Assault On Wall Street' Interview". Filmdrunk.uproxx.com. Retrieved 2014-02-15.
  5. ↑ "Assault on Wall Street | The Arts - JustMeMike's New Blog". Jmmnewaov2.wordpress.com. 2013-08-28. Retrieved 2014-02-15.
  6. ↑ "Assault on Wall Street". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved 29 January 2024. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  7. ↑ "Assault on Wall Street". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.