He and De Niro never sentimentalize Madoff, who talks matter-of-factly about making up investments, then complains that the people he hoodwinked were greedy.
Read the full review here.
“The most interesting thing here,” De Niro says, “is the family dynamic.” Levinson agrees. “You want to know who he was, who she was, and the relationship between them, because if you can humanize them you can better understand,” he says. “If you use the family to show what the man is like, you begin to see how he functions in the outside world. He was a full-time con artist, in private and in public.”
Read the full article here.
Jenny Comita in W Magazine:
“Let me ask you a question,” Madoff says to Henriques, who scored the first jailhouse sit-down with Madoff and plays herself onscreen. “Do you think I’m a sociopath?” Does he really need to ask?
“From daring direction by Barry Levinson, to De Niro’s mesmerizing performance as disgraced financier Bernie Madoff, “The Wizard of Lies,” is another grand-slam docudrama from TV’s premier cable channel.”
David Zurawik of The Baltimore Sun gave “The Wizard of Lies” on HBO a rave review. Read the full article here.