The Wizard of Lies


The Wizard of Lies is a 2017 American television biopic film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Sam Levinson, Sam Baum, and John Burnham Schwartz, based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Diana B. Henriques. The film stars Robert De Niro as businessman Bernard Madoff, Michelle Pfeiffer as his wife Ruth Madoff, and Alessandro Nivola as their older son Mark Madoff. It aired on HBO on May 20, 2017.

Plot

The plot of the film is based on real events—the story of Bernard Madoff, who founded his company on Wall Street in the early 1960s, which, over time, turned into one of the largest investment funds. Madoff himself had enjoyed a reputation as a successful and influential financier, broker, financial consultant, and generous philanthropist until 2008 when it became known that over the past 16 years his firm had turned into the largest financial pyramid in history. The huge scandal that broke out turned into multibillion-dollar losses and led to the collapse of Madoff himself, who later received 150 years in prison.

Cast

On August 27, 2015, Michelle Pfeiffer and Alessandro Nivola joined the film to play wife Ruth Madoff and older son Mark Madoff, respectively. On September 9, 2015, Hank Azaria joined the film as Frank DiPascali. On September 10, 2015, Nathan Darrow, Kristen Connolly, Kathrine Narducci, and Steve Coulter were cast as Andrew Madoff, Stephanie Madoff, Eleanor Squillari, and Martin London, respectively. Diana B. Henriques was also cast as herself. On September 11, 2015, Lily Rabe was cast as Catherine Hooper.
Principal photography on the film began on August 31, 2015, in New York City.

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 75% based on 51 reviews, with a weighted average rating of 6.49/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Wizard of Lies doesn't really shed much new light on its fact-based story, but thanks to solid direction and a talented cast, it still proves consistently watchable." On Metacritic, the film has a normalized score of 67 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "favorable reviews".

Ratings

The film's premiere drew 1.5 million viewers, making it HBO's largest premiere viewership for an HBO film in four years;
additional replays and viewings through the network's streaming service brought the film's total viewers to 2.4 million for its premiere weekend.

Awards and nominations

Soundtrack

The Wizard of Lies was released digitally May 19, 2017, the day before the film's premiere.