Director: Kim Nguyen
Writer: Kim Nguyen (Screenplay)
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Alexander Skarsgard, Salma Hayek, Michael Mando, Johan Heldenbergh, Ayisha Issa
Plot: A pair of high-frequency traders go up against their old boss in an effort to make millions in a fiber-optic cable deal.
Tagline – Everything Is On The Line.
Runtime: 1 Hour 51 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: The Hummingbird Project starts when Vincent Zaleski (Eisenberg) and his cousin Anton (Skarsgard) are looking to build a fibre-optic cable connecting high frequency traders, going against their former boss Eva Torres (Hayek).
As the pair prepare their work, Eva looks to halt their progress, while Vincent is hit hard with some personal news, leaving the job on the line.
Thoughts on The Hummingbird Project
Characters – Vincent Zaleski is the fast-talking dealer, he will always find a way to talk his way out of a problem, while making a deal happen to complete this project. With the project going on, he learns bad news about his health, which leaves him in a middle of the decision, complete the job, or fight his illness. Anton is the cousin of Vincent, he is the brains behind everything they are doing, though he does lack the people skills when it comes to trying to sell the products. Eva Torres is the former boss of the pair, she believes they are using her company’s information to make the money. Mark is one of the main employees to take the building side of the job for the cousins.
Performances – Jesse Eisenberg has got this style of role down to perfect over the years, he will always bring a fast-talking confident character to life with ease, along with Alexander Skarsgard being almost unrecognizable as the cousin. Salma Hayek does bring the strong supporting character to life too, which will see the whole cast lead by these three shining.
Story – The story here follows two cousins as they look to break the millisecond record for data transfer by building a fiber connection across America against their former employer, which will see them looking to deal their way into making this happen. This is a fast paced story that does show how people could use the idea of the stock market to make their own money quicker, knowing people will pay for information, it will show the aggressive styles being used between both sides to try and beat the competition along the way too. It does ask the bigger question about what is more important, being the best at something or your own health, which is important in Vincent’s action, while also pointing out the different lifestyles which could be effected by what is happening.
Settings – The film uses the settings to show us the different environments that the technology will need to be transferred through and how different locations will pose different challenges.
Scene of the Movie – Destroy the message.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Performances are brilliant, jus the characters aren’t that redeeming.
Final Thoughts – This is a good look at how fast the stock markets are always trying to find a way to get ahead of the game through their actions, with a film that is carried by the brilliant performances.