Unraveled

Released Apr 13, 2012

1 hr. 24 min.

Documentary

List

67%

12 Reviews

Tomatometer

44%

100+ Ratings

Audience Score

New York attorney Marc Dreier orchestrates one of the largest securities and money fraud schemes in American history.

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Audience Member

If you can let go of your natural distaste for someone like this and just watch it open minded and without predisposed ideas which is tricky it's actually quite compelling in how sad a story it all is. Sad for all he affected as ell as himself. If you don't get that point of the whole thing, we lose our grasp on how this kind of sh!t happens

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

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Audience Member

He seems only sorry and remorseful because he got caught. 20 years in jail is a little lenient for a Ponzi scheme this size. Dreier probably deserved at least 40 years considering Madoff received 150 years for the same crime. The documentary is interesting overall: He deserves a little bit of credit for explaining every detail on camera, unlike Madoff who decided not to talk. Showing him under house arrest in his Manhattan penthouse, and showing him spending other peoples money on expensive toys is a bit spitting on the victims faces. It is hard to find any pity for this crook.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

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Audience Member

Does one have to dignify a criminal with this movie?

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

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Audience Member

The financial crisis of 2008 and the ensuing Ponzi scheme unravelings in 2009 make for very compelling stories, lessons, and character studies. In unraveled, director Marc Simon looks at the case of Marc Dreier, whose case seemingly embodies all of the above. Dreier, a supposedly hugely successful New York attorney, was found to have engaged in a $400 million dollar fraud that had him bizarrely impersonating, and hiring others to impersonate for him. While an interesting premise, Simon fails to really seize the opportunity. Filmed in the 60 days prior to his sentencing, this was a unique opportunity to paint an intimiate portrait of a man that was deeply torn. Instead, the film gives him far too much leeway. Drier is his own narrator, and seemingly dictates the flow of the film. Good documentaries take a more objective look, and force the subject out of their comfort zone. In Unraveled, that comfort zone is never pushed. Dreier seems remourceful yet prone to excuses and rationalizing, never being conforted to the contrary. This results in a documentary that feels far too safe, and devoid of the sort of insight one would expect. We get plenty of Dreier's rationalizing and humanizing, yet never fully get to the heart of what went wrong, the intimate details of the fraud, nor a profound change in character of Dreier. An overall bland and disappointing effort. 2.5/5 Stars

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

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Audience Member

An arresting picture of a financial criminal that dares to ask the right questions. It takes enormous risks in suggesting that Mark Dreier isn't a bad guy, just someone presented with an opportunity, and claiming that people presented with a similar opportunity would do the same thing. It pays off well.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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Audience Member

I don't get it. The guy is convicted of massive fraud but they allow him to continue to live in luxury until he is sentenced? Throw the bum in jail until he's sentenced.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

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Marc H. Simon

Director

Marc Dreier

Actor

Terry Clark

Executive Producer

Tony Tamberelli

Executive Producer

Miranda Bailey

Producer

Steven Cantor

Producer

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John Anderson

Newsday

As both man and metaphor, Drier is a pretty potent subject.

Rated: 3.5/4

Apr 27, 2012

Full Review

Sam Adams

Los Angeles Times

One moment Dreier is proclaiming his regret, the next he's drawing a bankrupt analogy between fictional bank robbers and the crimes he committed in "so-called reality."

Rated: 3/5

Apr 12, 2012

Full Review

Jeannette Catsoulis

New York Times

Like the Upper East Side penthouse in which it unfolds, the documentary "Unraveled" is cool and elegant, echoing with spaces for our imaginations to fill.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 12, 2012

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Debbie Lynn Elias

Behind The Lens

Unraveled is compelling, dramatic, at times even poignant, and as you await the final sentencing order along with Marc Drier, you too, will find yourself on the edge of your seat.

Nov 16, 2019

Full Review

Sarah Boslaugh

PopMatters

...you have to give Dreier style points; [even Bernie] Madoff never flew to Toronto to impersonate a representative of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan...

Rated: 6/10

Oct 5, 2012

Full Review

Tony Macklin

tonymacklin.net

Unraveled is a con job. It has the clammy hands of its crooked main figure all over it. Unraveled is a prime example of why one sometimes should be skeptical of a documentary.

Rated: 1.5/5

Apr 24, 2012

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Synopsis

New York attorney Marc Dreier orchestrates one of the largest securities and money fraud schemes in American history.

Director: Marc H. Simon
Executive Producer: Terry Clark, Tony Tamberelli
Distributor: GoDigital
Production Co: Ambush Entertainment, Stick Figure Productions
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 13, 2012, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 11, 2017