Greed is far from good in “Trader Games,” a botched Wall Street thriller that invests little in its characters while indebting itself to a plot that constantly strains for credibility. Starring Gilles Lellouche (“Little White Lies”) as a New York-based broker who contrives a scheme to beat the market and make a pretty billion, helmer Fabrice Genestal’s multinational production (whose co-financing looks more complex than a credit default swap) is an implausible mishmash of high-risk, coke-snorting testosterone finding its comeuppance at the hands of fierce competition and pathos overload. Following a weak Gallic release, this stock’s forecast is dim.
When he isn’t skydiving for thrills, French trader Erwon (Lellouche) is concocting, along with a sexy meteorologist (Vahina Giocante), an investment model linking market trends to climate change. Despite all economic logic, the plan works — that is, until Erwon goes Gordon Gekko and decides he’s the next master of the universe. Unfortunately, little is actually mastered in this poorly written and haphazardly crafted suspenser, which seems to hop to different locations merely to fulfill tax-shelter requirements. As a tough hedge-fund manager, Michael Madsen has seen better days.
