I wanted more, more of how Bernie Madoff became the man we meet in this film. When we meet him he is already rotten. He is mere months away from his arrest.

There is in Robert DeNiro's portrayal little or nothing to like or empathize with. Or care about. What we have is a true sociopath who is found out early in the film, which forces us to see nothing but the devastation left in his wake.

This is my way of saying there is no story arc. There are no surprises. What flashbacks there are show Madoff in his personal life but always at his worst.

Michelle Pheiffer as Madoff's wife has a small rand unconvincing role. And like her husband, I couldn't care less about her fate. As for the Madoff sons, to some degree this is more their story than anyone else's. And to the degree that I learned quite a bit about them, the film deserves credit.

But that is not enough to warrant its viewing.

Bernie Madoff (Robert De Niro) is being interview by writer Diana Henriques whose book on which this movie is based. The respected legend of Wall Street is in prison for the biggest Ponzi scheme in history. The other protagonists are his wife Ruth (Michelle Pfeiffer) and their two sons, Andrew and Mark.

This is a HBO film from legendary director Barry Levinson. It doesn't really expand on the plot or the scam. It's more of a character piece for the family. I really like the father son relationships. It would be great to make this a Mark Madoff movie. De Niro is solid as an unrepentant Bernie. Pfeiffer is doing a version of Ruth which gets a little bothersome. She's whiny and plays herself as a victim but not in a fun way. The movie needs some fun and she would be good for that. In the end, the acting is solid. There is some sympathetic takes on the Madoff sons. There are other better takes on the Madoff scandal but this one is pretty good.

Oscar winning director Barry Levinson had big success by teaming up with HBO on You Don't Know Jack.

This time Levinson and HBO have teamed up with Robert De Niro on the true life tale of Bernie Madoff whose fake investment vehicle was exposed during the 2008 financial crisis. Madoff operated a Ponzi/Pyramid scheme where you robbed Peter to pay Paul.

When you have movies such as The Big Short and Margin Call that have done a brutal expose of the financial crisis, The Wizard of Lies just felt redundant with an almost movie of the week sheen about it.

The film had a confusing narrative and an uneven script. It wants to explain the investigation on Madoff, what his sons knew about the firm's precarious position as well as explain Madoff's investment fraud to the audience.

It was best when it was at its simplest. Bernie Madoff telling someone he was a simple man from a humble family then throwing a lavish party where he wanted fresh lobsters caught that morning, not freshly frozen and clean plates. Madoff and his family lived an extravagant lifestyle, it was all based on other people's money.

Madoff targeted wealthy Jews like him and royally ripped them off. Once he was exposed many of his victims found out that they were penniless.

I found the film dragged and was rather boring. Despite a sterling performance from De Niro and being based on true, tragic events, it was just not interesting enough.