Traders (2016)

Captivating movie !

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

After getting downsized from high paying jobs two employees have different ideas to survive. Harry Fox (Killian Scott) becomes a data entry technician for 24K a year, not enough to pay for his apartment. Vernon Stynes (John Bradley- poor man's Jonah Hill) decides to become a web designer with enhanced search. Vernon doesn't fair to well, living with mom, opts to open a page on the dark web where people down on their luck, sell everything they own, and gamble the money on a death match with someone with the same amount. Vernon calls it "Trading." The first fight is Vernon vs Harry. Vernon nearly gets killed as harry spares him and nurses him back to heath. Meanwhile Harry sets up fights as his funds run low.One of the nice things of the film is that it had a unique plot making it unable to predict where it will go. On the down side is Killian Scott's character. the lead character, had no personality making the film unnecessarily boring when it should be exciting.Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity. While this is an Irish film, the accents are not thick.

This is a total guy movie. I can see this movie being a cult favorite. I never heard of it. I watch it. And the story is so unusual and compelling. Some may compare this to Fight Club, but I don't think so. This is so much better. The only problem is they should have let him kill the girl. Equality and all. I can see this having a Traders II. Just watch it. And go beyond the first five minutes. I almost didn't. I'm glad I watched the whole thing.

I was brought to this via following John Bradly (GoT), who does a sterling job here.Really good solid film without all the self-congratulatory nonsense that fills Hollywood movies but still with high production values. Despite the unlikely premise that runs throughout, it is shot with a bleak but engaging realism. The characters are developed and yet refreshingly, we don't have to suffer too much relationship nonsense.The plot is pretty straight forward and while some might say it was a bit thin, I was content to just let it flow to its conclusion. I was initially skeptical about the main premise being a viable concept (even within a film) but the small scale of how it started actually won me round.

When I saw screen captures, I dreaded to spend 2h bored watching a dumb looking fat guy... but I'm glad that I overcame my prejudices because he's actually the most interesting person in the movie! His cleverness made it all possible. A lot of people get fired and commit suicide because of financial ruin, so he gets the idea to fight to the death to win the other person's money... A lesser of two evils.Oh~ How I loved to hate him and his plots, the bastard.The main fighter is a more likable person in spite of being a bit dull. But it's fun to watch him kill.It's an original way to calm people's frustrations by showing them a bunch of people dying, it's a nice change from slasher movies with a crazy maniac as killer. That stereotype is wrong, it caused stigma and discrimination against people with mental illness, most of them are that way because they suffered more than they could bear, but they wouldn't hurt others. I like how the movie shows that you don't need to be insane to kill, all it takes is a rational motivation... and even the "best" people can do the worst if they see it as their best option.It was nice to see ordinary "good and proper" people pushed into desperation enough to try to murder... Showing that anyone could do it when pushed hard enough. It's easy to be a good person when everyone is good to you and give you good opportunities... And people pride themselves with mere luck... But if that help is taken away and you fear to lose everything good, you might turn out more evil than you thought anyone could ever be. One of the fighters seemed old and I thought that he had no chance, but the way he fought really surprised me.Thank you for this movie. It made me laugh~ Thankfully I'm not that desperate yet. I appreciated this movie, and I appreciate my life a little better.