Ham Bone – Google

I have worked in venture capital firms and while the film does touch on the surface of some of the vices of the industry it is a wholly unrealistic and blown up portrayal of what happens in reality. Intra office affairs and gossip is part and parcel of life and it happens everywhere and in every office, not just the investment industry because that is human nature. In the cutthroat investment management business, competition and politics is rife, the work demands are extreme but the rewards for success are bountiful. Yes there are rare temper tantrums, very occasional monitors and phones smashed, vulgarities hurled and other eccentric behaviors all the to the entertainment of the pricked up ears on the open trading room. But not to the extent dramatised in this film. I never heard a boss humiliate an employee by calling her a "stupid FB", then the next day rewarding her with a half million dollar cheque as commission for single deal that makes up for the previous day's loss. It just doesn't work like that. To see an employee get on his knees and beg for his job in public view was cringeworthy. Even worse to see him come into the office drunk and dishevelled and disrupt a client presentation, that was just OTT. Not to mention the bathroom passion scenes including the opening scene with menstrual blood everywhere as well as on the lips of the male lead, or the pathetic strip club nonsense where the female lead tries to emulate male behavior to try and fit in. A relationship doomed to end inevitably but far later than it should have with a ridiculous conclusion. There are touches of reality but it just goes too far. Watch at your own risk, take the events with a pinch of salt.