Equity

Set on Wall Street, filmmaker Meera Menon's financial thriller proves that female executives can be just as cold-hearted, cutthroat, and corrupt as the male majority surrounding them. “I like money—like knowing I have it,” declares hot-shot investment banker Naomi Bishop (Anna Gunn). Unfortunately, workaholic Naomi has once again been passed over for promotion by her boss (Lee Tergesen) at Remson Partners on the basis of one underperforming IPO in her otherwise impressive Silicon Valley start-ups portfolio. Determined to prove her worth, Naomi goes after another IPO called Cachet, a San Francisco-based, billion-dollar social network/security business that is run by a British tech entrepreneur (Samuel Roukin). But her hedge-fund boyfriend, Michael Connor (James Purefoy), steals her info about the upcoming IPO for insider trading. Meanwhile, Naomi's ambitious protégé Erin (Sarah Megan Thomas) tries to conceal the fact that she's newly pregnant. And Naomi's manipulative college chum Samantha (Alysia Reiner) is now working for the Justice Department, investigating white-collar crimes such as securities fraud. In the film's most memorable scene, Naomi goes ballistic when a male underling gives her a cookie that has fewer chocolate chips than the one he just ate. A perceptively scrappy, female-driven Wall Street drama that unfortunately lacks a satisfying payoff, this is a strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include an L.A. Film Festival Q&A with star Meera Menon and costars Anna Gunn, Alysia Reiner, Sarah Megan Thomas, and Samuel Roukin (16 min.), a “making-of” featurette (15 min.), a segment on “Girl Gang: The Equity of Empowerment” (9 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a bonus UltraViolet copy of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an uneven corporate drama.] (S. Granger)