Popular reviews

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  Review by Jon_Kissel ★★★

  The titular Hank of Joe Berlinger's documentary refers to Hank Paulson, former Goldman Sachs CEO and Treasury Secretary during the 2008 financial crisis and resulting bank bailout. Berlinger is aiming for a Fog of War homage, in which Paulson runs down his triumphs and successes in pursuit of some kind of understanding, and to the film's credit, it's not painful to mention it in the same breath as that Errol Morris masterpiece. The events documented, almost solely focused on 2008, have plenty of forward momentum and Paulson has a frank speaking style and a strong grasp on the facts. He also discusses his humble leadership style, in which he deliberately surrounds himself with people whose talents cover for his weaknesses,…

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  Review by Tommy ★★★

  This film is dying to be directed by Errol Morris. The best they could do is William Morris. I don't know if that makes any sense.

  As for the content:So much is so wrong.

  The economy is talked about like an environmental disaster and not a man made preventable one. But I guess that's how environmental disasters are getting to be to

  
  The movie ends with Paulson basically saying "well, could have been worse!" which I guess is the case, but where I think we can ask more questions about how bad, the "it" in question is and that "it" will in this film and has now happened again.

  These people would be more memorable if everyone watched C-SPAN

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  Review by Joshua Hoover ★★★★

  Always interesting to hear about the financial crisis of 2008. Even more interesting to hear it told in the voice of one of the key men, Harry Paulson - Hank. A well paced doc that gives Paulson an opportunity to tell his side of the story. In the end, that's what this doc is, one side of a very story with many sides to it.

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  Review by Owen Hughes ★★★½

  Although it might seem slightly contrary to what people who actually know what they're talking about say, I always thought Hank Paulson was one of the few people who could hand on heart say they did their best during the 2008 financial crisis that brought Wall Street and the whole of America's economic system to the brink of armageddon.

  Everything I know about the financial crash I read in a highly detailed account of events in the book 'Too Big To Fail: Inside The Battle To Save Wall Street' by Andrew Ross Sorkin back in August 2010, almost 2 years to the date that Lehman Brothers collapsed. It is one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read. The HBO…

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  Review by AlexJE4 ★★★½

  Good watch, very one sided. Could’ve been more but I like what it is

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  Review by Zak ★★★½

  It's weird that Joe Berlinger includes a portion of footage where he explains to Hank Paulson how the Interrotron works. Hank: 5 Years from the Brink is already going to spark comparisons to Errol Morris' near-perfect The Fog of War, so why remind us of this right at the jump by referencing a tool invented by Errol Morris and never used better by anyone else?
  Otherwise, this is fine. It gets interestingly technical, but it does the bare minimum in juxtaposing Paulson's side of the story with the media frenzy of the time. Sure, it's a constant thread, but it never digs deep into these counters and Paulson is too confident in his own viewpoint for any self-critique.

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  Review by London Storm ★★★

  I'll be honest: it's really hard to tell whether Hank saved the global financial system at the end of the Bush era or whether he's just delusional and extremely lucky.

  it's somewhat of a sympathetic view on his experiences with the Bush Administration. right place, right time.

  I came away from this still not knowing what exactly to think about the guy or his role in the Great Recession. not sure that's what was intended though.

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  Review by Jason Kaiser ★★★

  Fascinating look at the financial crisis through the eyes of the key player.

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  Review by Corey Pierce ★★★

  Watched because it's Berlinger. The subject matter doesn't pop like it does in Inside Job, but the craft is there and Hank is a good talking head.

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  Review by M G ★★★★

  Henry Paulson frankly admits to his communication failures with the American public during the financial crisis and the ways he believes the actions taken then have made things worse in the present. He's convinced that things would have been much worse had those actions not been taken. I am too, but not so much by the evidence from this film.

  That said, for a 90 minute film it does provide a good chronology of the events of the day, and Mr. Paulson proves to be a candid and personable interviewee. As does his wife, who tells stories of their life together and of watching her husband struggle under the weight of the decisions to be made.

  Joe Berlinger's head on camera angle minimizes the 'staring into the middle distance' effect of many interview driven documentaries and helps Mr. Paulson maintain credibility.