Hank: 5 Years From the Brink

2013

1 hr. 25 min.

Documentary

Biography

List

50%

14 Reviews

Tomatometer

53%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

In 2008, Hank Paulson was hired to convince banks, Congress and presidential candidates to sign off on a trillion dollars in bailouts.

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Audience Member

Hank Paulson's refusal to accept responsibility for not requiring banks bailed out by taxpayers to reserve a portion of that bailout for consumer lending, and his failure to limit absolutely the compensation and bonuses paid out with those funds, is reprehensible. Having come from the investment banking world, he should have known what these bankers would do. The producer's failure to really probe these issues leaves us with Hank's weak self-assessment. His and his oh-so-humble wife Wendy's inventory of his supposed humility, honesty, honor — blah, blah, blah — is annoying and makes this venture little more than a vanity project.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

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Audience Member

Excellent portrayal of events as understood from my perspective as a financial advisor for 30 years. It made stunningly clear all the perplexing choices at hand with him as well as Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke in saving the economy from a horrendous collapse on the scale of the Great Depression.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

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Audience Member

I really liked this Joe Berlinger doc. The economic crisis told from Hank Paulson's perspective, but Berlinger doesn't let him get away without asking some of the hard questions.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

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Audience Member

An airbrushed and self righteous documentary where Paulson Justifiies the actions taken prior to and during the Credit Crunch, despite the near death of the financial system and the overhang of high unemployment and falling living standards, hank seems to learn absolutely nothing about how Greed and believes in self sustsaining market played a role in the mess he was drafted to clean up.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A damn fine documentary. This reminded me a lot of McNamara's "Fog of War" with how open and honest he was being about his failures. Anyone who really wants to get to the heart of the financial crisis, this is a good movie to begin with. You get to learn all the key dates and important players, straight from the horses's mouth. Good Concept, Good Execution

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

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Audience Member

An interesting documentary that sheds some light on one of the most controversial figures of last decade's financial meltdown.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

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Peter Keough

Boston Globe

A denial of personal responsibility and inadequate regulations: Isn't that what led us to the brink in the first place?

Rated: 2/4

Mar 6, 2014

Full Review

David Lewis

San Francisco Chronicle

This is not a film that will be remembered for its high drama, but it wouldn't be surprising to see it studied in future years by scholars trying to gain perspective on a calamity that almost brought the world to itsknees.

Rated: 2/4

Feb 20, 2014

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Betsy Sharkey

Los Angeles Times

For all of Paulson's intelligent calm in front of the camera, he is telling an American horror story of massive proportions.

Feb 13, 2014

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Bernard Boo

Way Too Indie

Providing more than a glancing view of the crisis from the perspective of his opponents would have made for a richer, more encompassing, and possibly more engaging film.

Rated: 6.8/10

Apr 3, 2019

Full Review

Sarah Boslaugh

Playback:stl

Hank is basically a big love letter from Paulson to himself, and it's a mystery to me why Berlinger would lend his talents to such an effort.

Rated: 4/10

Apr 8, 2014

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Dan Schindel

Movie Mezzanine

Only essential if you missed every other doc on the recession or are incredibly invested in learning some unneeded details about Hank Paulson's life.

Rated: C

Feb 20, 2014

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Synopsis

In 2008, Hank Paulson was hired to convince banks, Congress and presidential candidates to sign off on a trillion dollars in bailouts.

Director: Joe Berlinger
Executive Producer: Jon Kamen, Dave O'Connor, Justin Wilkes
Screenwriter: Joe Berlinger
Genre: Documentary, Biography
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 26, 2015

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