The Laundromat (2019)

Follows a group of journalists who take part in unearthing 11.5 million files, linking the world's most powerful political figures to secret banking accounts to avoid taxes. (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: Steven Soderbergh
Written By: Scott Z. Burns, Jake Bernstein
Starring: Robert Patrick, Antonio Banderas, Meryl Streep, James Cromwell, Sharon Stone, Gary Oldman, Jeffrey Wright, Will Forte, David Schwimmer, Matthias Schoenaerts, Nonso Anozie, Melissa Rauch
Country: USA
Where to Stream
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The Laundromat belongs to 12 collections
1. Based on a Book (collaborative: moderated by iconogassed - 21 stars)
2. Fourth wall (collaborative: moderated by djross - 16 stars)
3. Based on true events (collaborative: moderated by iconogassed - 12 stars)
4. True crime (collaborative: moderated by djross - 11 stars)
5. Business, Finance and Economics (collaborative: moderated by djross - 10 stars)
6. Netflix Original Movies (collaborative: moderated by NhanLa - 4 stars)
7. Cinematography by director (collaborative: moderated by iconogassed - 2 stars)
8. Filmekimi 2019 (collaborative: moderated by ozdemibr - 1 star)
9. 76th Venice International Film Festival (2019) ~p~ (collaborative: moderated by 5Z5qjRCfM2)
10. Availability: Netflix (public: KasperL)
11. 11 (public: rnest)
12. Djross Netflix feature films I have seen (public: djross)
Browse the full list of collections
Stars | User | Rating | |
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schnofel | 62 56th |
Not necessarily a collection of short stories around the theme of off-shore money laundering, but also not not. In the very smarter-than-you, know-it-all, in-on-the-joke fashion of contemporary political filmmaking, Soderbergh soderberghs his way through character sketches that are as breezy as the white suits of Oldman and Banderas. But I don't know what the film wants (from me). To rise up and end corruption, probably.
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djross | 65 70th |
Breezy illumination of the shell game of the rich and powerful exposed in the Panama Papers. Cinematic attempts to portray the diffuse nature of global power and networks tend to be overpraised when they have a deadly serious tone (e.g., SYRIANA): Soderbergh has learned since TRAFFIC and CONTAGION that an ironic approach is preferable, but is then criticised for lacking a "coherent narrative" (Lowry, CNN): so what? End reveal is a little weak, perhaps, but the use of the manifesto packs a punch.
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Ocelot | 30 22nd |
makes me glad Soderbergh dropped out of Moneyball. the patronizing approach to non-fiction is tiresome; The Big Short works because it was confined to one story that directly affected the audience. telling a far more confusing story through a convoluted series of vignettes does the film no favors, even if the end of the movie is just Meryl Streep explaining that to you. she's the worst part of the movie, too. stop hamming up everything, you old fraud!!
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Hawkins | 79 66th |
Soderbergh does a Schoolhouse Rock special on the Panama Papers. Surprisingly funny and looks great, Streep is fantastic (her fourth-wall breaking rant is like a woke acceptance speech for an award she earned earlier in the movie, it's hilarious). I'm just shell, yes I'm only a shell...
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PetrosTser | 50 19th |
Basically a poor man's "Big Short", this is a lecture disguised as a movie. Oldman and Banderas are narrating with accents instead of acting; the script's fragmentary, its characters weightless; the story's technical side is fuzzy, boring, confusing. Nice frames aren't absent and Streep is such a natural that she's a joy to watch even in this undemanding part yet the final "reveal" underlines in its pointlessness just how much more this film could have achieved if it talked less and showed more.
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AAAutin | 45 37th |
I certainly felt like I got taken to the cleaners...
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Dalboz | 60 30th |
The film doesn't feel like it conveys the gravity of the situation. Which is very disappointing given the talent involved and the chance to really bring this subject back into the public eye. While I have to give the filmmakers credit with trying to make the complex money laundering scheme in the Panama Papers digestible to a general audience and keeping this visible, ultimately it feels like it's too little too late.
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amazedemon | 61 25th |
Adapting the Panama Papers story into an interesting film always seemed an uphill challenge, and The Laundromat proves how true that is. Soderbergh's direction is a pale imitation of The Big Short in that it imitates the multiple story arcs and quippy interludes, but comes across as less satisfying in every aspect. The 95 min film is badly paced, feeling much longer, and just feels miscast. Ultimately the film attempts an emotional appeal, acknowledging its own hypocrisy but providing no reason.
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1 | Lonewolf2003 | 50 9th |
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Soderbergh tries to do a Big Short for the off-shore banking industry but fails. The humor feels forced to make the heavy content easily digestible, The different plotlines make it very episodic and fail to really capture the real human costs, especially since the most important one starring MS is just abandoned. Above all I didn't feel like I have a very better understanding of the workings or tax-evasions after watching this. Oldman accent is outrageous. At least it never is boring.
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peyrin | 80 81st |
It was all going great until Meryl Streep started preaching about campaign finance laws. The whole point is how everyone watching is powerless to enact any change! Ah well, all the other 94 minutes are good. "We should have invested more in cybersecurity"
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Average Percentile 30.52% from 486 Ratings | ![]() |