At the end of the film, we might have a better understanding of how this giant Ponzi scheme unfolded, but we still have no idea why it happened-a significant shortcoming for an HBO movie with this kind of pedigree.

It should come as no surprise that, through it all, De Niro's Madoff remains an enigma - an android-like con man prone to blank stares and remorseless, matter-of-fact statements when questioned about his reprehensible actions.

Pfeiffer stole the show as Madoff's wife Ruth, nervously chain-smoking her way through a scandal she naively knew nothing about.

The most damning thing one can say is that The Wizard of Lies does not raise genuinely troubling questions about the existing social order.