3. Margin Call (2011)

The premise: Released just a few weeks ago, the independent thriller Margin Call follows an investment banking firm over a twenty-four-hour period as it teeters on the brink of collapse. Through a series of Good Will Hunting-esque number-scribblings and chart-perusings, junior analyst Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) discovers that the firm is too highly leveraged for their volatility limits. What follows is a series of tense boardroom meetings and private crises of conscience, as the firm's power players grapple with the reality of the impending fallout.

What we learn: Well, you don't learn what "too highly leveraged for their volatility limits" means — Margin Call doesn't take as instructive an approach to the crisis as Too Big to Fail does. What it does teach you, however, is that the people at the top are just as dumb as we are: in-denial CEO John Tuld (a terrifying Jeremy Irons) fails to understand the significance of Sullivan's findings, repeatedly asking him to explain the numbers "like you would to a child, or a golden retriever." Perhaps we should just call it a day and put the banks in the hands of fifth-grade calculus prodigies, who at least wouldn't be inclined to spend half their annual salary on hookers and blow.

Most finance-y finance lines: "A guy bets on a number halfway around the world: one guy wins, one guy loses. If he wasn't doing this, he'd be doing it at an OTB somewhere." — Junior trader Seth (Penn Badgley)

"There are three ways to get ahead in this business: be first, be smarter, or cheat." — CEO John Tuld (Jeremy Irons)

4. Larry Crowne (2011)

The premise: Affable and Tom Hanks-esque Larry Crowne (Tom Hanks), a middle manager at a store, becomes another victim of the recession when he's downsized due to his lack of higher education. Unable to afford his mortgage or his car, he enrolls as a student in the local community college in an effort to start his life over, which means that he learns how to ride a scooter and has an awkward sex thing with his teacher (Julia Roberts).

What we learn: That the subprime mortgage crisis takes away innocent Americans' jobs, cars, and homes; and forces them to date Julia Roberts. I don't know — to be honest, I couldn't even get past the trailer.

Most finance-y finance lines: N/A, see above. Maybe Tom Hanks says something sparklingly lucid and intelligent about derivatives regulation. Either way, he probably rides a helicopter at some point.

5. Up in the Air (2009)

The premise: Although Jason Reitman's Oscar-nominated dramedy is not directly related to the economic crisis — the Walter Kirn novel it's based on was written in 2001 — Up in the Air is steeped in the concerns of the era. Yet the movie has only a tangential interest in the recession's victims; it's much more focused on corporate downsizer Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), a rakish itinerant whose talent for firing people is only exceeded by his ability to get into fellow frequent flyer Alex's (Vera Farmiga) pants.  

What we learn: In Up in the Air, we really only see the impact of the economic crisis on a microcosmic level — that is, the interactions between Ryan and the unfortunate men and women he's been hired to ax. On a larger scale, however, we see how the harsh socioeconomic climate takes its toll on Ryan himself, who leads a nomadic lifestyle in order to avoid forming meaningful relationships. In an age when jobs and homes can be lost in the blink of an eye, Ryan embodies the characteristics of the ultimate corporate player:  impersonal, hollowly empathetic, and, up to the end of the film, unburdened by emotional attachment.

Most finance-y finance lines: "It's one of the worst times on record in America. This is our moment." — Ryan's boss (Jason Bateman), to Ryan