AllMovie

Director Jean-Stephane Bron reveals how powerful bankers on Wall Street single-handedly brought the town of Cleveland, OH, to its knees in this remarkable look at one of the most dire financial meltdowns in modern history. Their city hobbled by a depressive wave of foreclosures, Cleveland lawyer Josh Cohen rallies the troops, and summons the 21 banks responsible for the devastation to appear in court. Before the city knew what hit them, the powers that be on Wall Street had unleashed their opulent wrath on the common people of Ohio. The proceedings effectively impeded, Cleveland fell into total disarray while receiving zero support from the very forces that ransacked their city. As crime rates skyrocketed along with the deficit, it seemed that nothing could be done to lift this once-prosperous city up from the gutter. In this film, Bron takes the unique approach of using actual testimonies to serve as the foundation for a fictional trial -- the trial that should have unfolded in a Cleveland courtroom had the bankers on Wall Street actually been held accountable for their reprehensible crimes.