The Hummingbird Project is a financial techno-thriller that features a fast-talking, poker-faced Eisenberg, a near-unrecognizable Skarsgård and American landscapes rarely seen on screen.
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This is a film about high-frequency trading that centres on finding the means to a superior ultra-low latency direct market access technology. If you didn’t process a word of that, then like me, you’re here for Jesse Eisenberg and Alexander Skarsgård.
In simpler terms, Eisenberg plays a wheeler-dealer types who enlists the help of techie cousin (a balding Skarsgård) to build an algorithm for a direct fibre-optic line from Kansas to New York that will create a unique competitive advantage for traders (read: lots of money). Salma Hayek dons the bombastic role of a greying, high-powered ex-boss who understandably gets in their way. Things get complicated when they realize that there’s a lot more at stake as they get closer to their goal.
The story is labelled a financial techno-thriller, but it mostly plays across as a slow-burn character drama about flawed individuals unraveling from insurmountable odds. The storytelling choices, however, make the film a challenge to appreciate for anyone expecting compelling tension or inspiring montages on a trading floor. Instead, it delves into themes that caution the wanton pursuit of wealth and obsession.
The performances from its leads are absorbing and restrained for the most part. Eisenberg anchors the story with his usual fast-talking, poker-faced enigma while a near-unrecognizable Skarsgård plays off-type as a more subdued genius with a fragile interior. Michael Mando (who plays Nacho from Better Call Saul) lends weight as a crafty ally to the pair, but deep down, you find yourself suspecting foul play abound thanks to the roles he usually takes on. Salma Hayek, on the other hand, phones in an unlikeable persona as a single dimensional antagonist who represents the ugly side of Wall Street.
The real winner in this film is the location scout and cinematographer, who have contributed to a spellbinding record of sprawling American landscapes rarely seen on screen. Through these varied terrains, director Kim Nguyen labours through an uneven, low-key morality tale based on a well-researched but idiosyncratic premise about the avarice of modern society.
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