Bull Run Review: Tom Blyth Stars In A Wolf Of Wall Street Ripoff That Is A Robbery Of Your Time

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Alfredo Barrios Jr.’s film heavily borrows from movies like The Wolf of Wall Street and The Big Short, to the point where it feels like a student film trying to imitate Martin Scorsese. Set in a fast-paced investment bank that feels more like a college fraternity, the movie lacks a unique identity – even the title cards look amateurish. Considering its inspirations, it’s surprising the film doesn’t attempt any kind of commentary on morality, politics, or society. Instead, it appears the director simply finds this superficial world appealing.

The movie Bull Run is based on Bill Keenan’s memoir, Discussion Materials: Tales of a Rookie Wall Street Investment Banker, which Keenan co-adapted into the screenplay with Barrios Jr. Thankfully, they shortened the book’s unwieldy title! However, that’s pretty much where the film’s originality ends. The story centers on Bobby Sanders (Tom Blyth), a former hockey player now working as a junior executive who doesn’t seem particularly interested in the world of finance. While Blyth is a capable actor, his character constantly looks at the camera and addresses the audience – a technique reminiscent of Jim Halpert from The Office – and the film relies heavily on his constant voiceover narration.

Bull Run Is Completely Devoid Of Substance

The film begins with the suicide of Sanders’ mentor, Chandler (Sam Daly), which is presented as a pivotal event that will send Sanders into an existential crisis. However, the movie doesn’t really explore that internal struggle. Instead, we see a series of scenes showing Sanders going through the motions at work, pursuing a relationship with a colleague named Michelle (Jordyn Denning), and playing pranks on his incredibly rich coworker, Farouk (Ashwin Gore). While the film suggests Sanders is troubled by the emptiness of his high-powered job, this internal conflict is rarely visible, except for a single conversation with Michelle where he confesses to feeling unmotivated.

Sanders is stuck leading a potential public offering for a coal company that’s hesitant to go public unless he can convince them of some pretty dubious ideas. And honestly, the entire movie feels like nonsense – a constant stream of complicated financial jargon. While Keenan and Barrios Jr. likely intended to showcase this kind of language, it ultimately feels pointless. The film seems to suggest that those in power are clueless, just skilled at misleading others. But it quickly becomes tiring to watch, unlike The Big Short, which explained the greed that led to the financial crisis. Here, it’s just overwhelming noise.

Bull Run is remarkably shallow, relying heavily on ironic stock photos and old footage to mask its lack of depth – almost as if the film is aware of its own emptiness. While it aims to critique the world it portrays, its message is so unclear that it ends up highlighting its own failings. The core problem is that the film engages in the very behaviors it supposedly criticizes. It’s a self-defeating approach, like using drugs to demonstrate the dangers of drug use.

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2025-11-14 17:29