Too Big to Fail (film)

{{Short description|2011 TV biographical film on the 2008 financial crisis directed by Curtis Hanson}}

{{Infobox television

| image = Too Big to Fail film.jpg

| image_size =

| image_alt =

| caption = Television release poster

| genre = Biographical drama

| based_on = {{based on|Too Big to Fail|Andrew Ross Sorkin}}

| writer = Peter Gould

| director = Curtis Hanson

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| music = Marcelo Zarvos

| country = United States

| language = English

| executive_producer = {{Plainlist|

Paula Weinstein
Jeffrey Levine
Curtis Hanson

}}

| producer = Ezra Swerdlow

| editor = {{Plainlist|

Barbara Tulliver
Plummy Tucker

}}

| cinematography = Kramer Morgenthau

| runtime = 98 minutes

| company = {{Plainlist|

Spring Creek Productions
Deuce Three Productions

}}

| budget =

| network = HBO

| released = {{Start date|2011|05|23}}

}}

Too Big to Fail is a 2011 American biographical drama television film directed by Curtis Hanson and written by Peter Gould, based on Andrew Ross Sorkin's 2009 non-fiction book Too Big to Fail. The cast includes William Hurt, Edward Asner, Billy Crudup, Paul Giamatti, Topher Grace, Cynthia Nixon, Bill Pullman, Tony Shalhoub, and James Woods. The film aired on HBO on May 23, 2011.

The film chronicles the 2008 financial crisis, focusing on the collapse of Lehman Brothers investment bank and the subsequent ripple effects on the global economy. As the firm's negotiations with potential buyers fail due to toxic assets and regulatory obstacles, the firm declares bankruptcy, triggering market chaos. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (Hurt) and Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke (Giamatti) lead efforts to stabilize the system, including rescuing AIG and lobbying Congress to pass the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

It received 11 nominations at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards; Paul Giamatti's portrayal of Ben Bernanke earned him the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie at the 18th Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Plot

In 2008, news channels are full of reports about the mortgage industry crisis and the forced sale of troubled investment bank, Bear Stearns, to commercial banking giant JPMorgan Chase, with Federal guarantees. With Bear Stearns out of the picture, short sellers turn their attention on another investment bank, Lehman Brothers.

With their share price falling rapidly, Lehman Brothers tries to negotiate a deal with Korean investors. The deal hinges on the condition that Lehman's toxic real estate is excluded, but falls through when CEO Dick Fuld insists the Koreans reconsider accepting the real estate assets. The most promising US-based buyer for Lehman, Bank of America, is uninterested without Fed involvement, but U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is adamant that the government will not subsidize any more acquisitions.

To resolve the situation, Paulson and President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Timothy Geithner, gather the leaders of the biggest US banks over a weekend, trying to coerce them to underwrite the deal. The bank leaders seem to reach an agreement, but Bank of America backs out, choosing instead to buy another threatened firm and Lehman's rival, Merrill Lynch. Paulson tries to negotiate for Lehman with British bank Barclays, but their involvement is blocked by British banking regulators. With no buyers remaining, Lehman is forced into bankruptcy.

Lehman's collapse affects the entire financial system. Paulson tries to reassure news media of the soundness of the decision to let Lehman fail, but the stock market goes into freefall. Meanwhile, insurance firm AIG also begins to fail. French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde warns Paulson that he must not allow AIG to fail, as the crisis is affecting Europe as well. Unlike Lehman, the Treasury rescues AIG with an $85 billion loan, deeming it “too big to [let] fail”.

Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve System, argues that Congress must pass legislation to authorize any continued intervention by the Fed or the Treasury. With the availability of credit drying up, Paulson's plan is to buy the toxic assets from the banks to take the risk off their books and increase their cash reserves. Bernanke and Paulson lobby Congress, with Bernanke emphasizing the potential of fallout worse than the Great Depression if they fail to act. The committee of representatives appear close to agreeing, when U.S. Senator and Presidential candidate John McCain, with great fanfare, announces that he is suspending his campaign and returning to Washington to work on the legislation.

Paulson has to threaten McCain not to interfere, and beg the Democrats not to back away from the negotiations. After a wave of panic and personal haranguing from President George W. Bush, the legislation passes on a second attempt and the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is created. Paulson's team realizes that buying toxic assets will take too long, leaving direct capital injections to the banks as their only option to use TARP to get credit flowing again. Along with FDIC Chair Sheila Bair, Paulson informs the banks that they will receive mandatory capital injections. The banks agree to the loans, but TARP legislation stops short of forcing them to use the money to restore credit for ordinary consumers.

The stock market continues falling until 2009 when it finally stabilizes, signaling the end of the crisis. An epilogue notes that the banks made little use of the loan money to ease credit conditions as intended, while Wall Street compensation continued to rise, reaching $135 billion by 2010.{{cite web|title=Too Big to Fail|work=Complete Season DVDs|url=http://www.completeseasondvds.com/dvd-info/B004EPYZDA/Too-Big-to-Fail.html|access-date=June 28, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305235459/http://www.completeseasondvds.com/dvd-info/B004EPYZDA/Too-Big-to-Fail.html|archive-date=March 5, 2016}}

Cast

The cast includes the following:{{cite web|url= http://www.hbo.com/movies/too-big-to-fail/cast-and-crew.html | title=Too Big to Fail: Cast & Crew | access-date=January 31, 2012| publisher= HBO |work=HBO Movies}}

William Hurt as Henry Paulson (U.S. Treasury Secretary and former Chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs)
Edward Asner as Warren Buffett (Primary shareholder, Chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway)
Billy Crudup as Timothy Geithner (President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York)
Paul Giamatti as Ben Bernanke (Chair of the Federal Reserve)
Topher Grace as Jim Wilkinson (Chief of Staff, U.S. Treasury Department)
Matthew Modine as John Thain (Chairman and CEO, Merrill Lynch)
Cynthia Nixon as Michele Davis (Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Public Relations and Director of Policy Planning)
Michael O'Keefe as Chris Flowers (Chairman and CEO, J.C. Flowers & Co.)
Bill Pullman as Jamie Dimon (Chairman and CEO, JPMorgan Chase)
Tony Shalhoub as John Mack (Chairman and CEO, Morgan Stanley)
James Woods as Dick Fuld (Chairman and CEO, Lehman Brothers)
Ayad Akhtar as Neel Kashkari (Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for International Economics and Development)
Kathy Baker as Wendy Paulson (Wife of Henry Paulson)
Amy Carlson as Erin Callan (CFO, Lehman Brothers)
Erin Dilly as Christal West, assistant to Hank Paulson
Evan Handler as Lloyd Blankfein (Chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs)
John Heard as Joe Gregory (President and COO, Lehman Brothers)

Dan Hedaya as Rep. Barney Frank (Chairman of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee (D-MA))
Peter Hermann as Christopher Cox (Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission)
Chance Kelly as Bart McDade (President and COO, Lehman Brothers)
Tom Mason as Bob Willumstad (Chairman and CEO, AIG)
Ajay Mehta as Vikram Pandit (CEO, Citigroup)
Tom Tammi as Jeff Immelt (CEO, General Electric)
Laila Robins as Christine Lagarde (French Finance Minister)
Victor Slezak as Greg Curl (Director of Planning, Bank of America)
Joey Slotnick as Dan Jester (Retired Goldman Sachs banker and newly appointed Paulson Advisor)
Casey Biggs as Richard Kovacevich (Chairman, Wells Fargo & Company)
Steve Tom as Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT)
Buddy Jones as Senator Harry Reid (D-NV)
Jonathan Freeman as Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL)
Linda Glick as Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (Speaker of the House of Representatives (D-CA))
Patricia Randell as Sheila Bair (Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)
George Taylor as Sir Callum McCarthy (Chairman of the Financial Services Authority)

Reception

=Critical reception=

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 74%, based on 27 reviews, and an average rating of 6/10.{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/too_big_to_fail_2011 |title=Too Big to Fail (2011) |work=Rotten Tomatoes |publisher=Fandango Media |access-date=June 25, 2018}} On Metacritic, the movie received a weighted average score of 67/100 from 17 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/tv/too-big-to-fail|title=Too Big To Fail Reviews|work=Metacritic|publisher=CBS Interactive|date=June 25, 2018}}

The A.V. Club gave the film a B rating.{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/too-big-to-fail-1798168351|title=Too Big To Fail|website=The A.V. Club|publisher=The Onion|access-date=June 25, 2018|date=May 23, 2011|first=Scott|last=Tobias}}

Awards and nominations

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Award ! Category ! Nominee(s) ! Result ! Ref.
rowspan="23"\| {{center\|2011}} \| Artios Awards \| Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Television Movie/Mini Series \| Alexa L. Fogel and Christine Kromer \| {{nom}} \| align="center"\| {{Cite web \|url=https://www.castingsociety.com/awards/artios/2011 \|title=2011 Artios Awards \|access-date=September 26, 2011 \|website=www.castingsociety.com \|language=en}}
rowspan="2"\| Hollywood Post Alliance Awards \| Outstanding Color Grading – Television \| Kevin O'Connor \| {{nom}} \| align="center" rowspan="2"\| {{cite web \|url=https://hpaonline.com/nominees-and-winners/2011-hpa-awards/ \|title=2011 HPA Awards \|website=Hollywood Professional Association \|access-date=September 8, 2022}}
Outstanding Sound – Television \| Michael Kirchberger, Chris Jenkins, and Bob Beemer \| {{nom}}
rowspan="5"\| Online Film & Television Association Awards \| Best Actor in a Motion Picture or Miniseries \| William Hurt \| {{nom}} \| align="center" rowspan="5"\| {{cite web \|url=http://www.oftaawards.com/television-awards/15th-annual-tv-awards-2010-11/ \|title=15th Annual TV Awards (2010-11) \|website=Online Film & Television Association \|access-date=May 15, 2021}}
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture or Miniseries \| Paul Giamatti \| {{won}}
Best Direction of a Motion Picture or Miniseries \| Curtis Hanson \| {{nom}}
Best Writing of a Motion Picture or Miniseries \| Peter Gould \| {{nom}}
colspan="2"\| Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture or Miniseries \| {{nom}}
rowspan="6"\| Primetime Emmy Awards \| Outstanding Miniseries or Movie \| Curtis Hanson, Paula Weinstein, Jeffrey Levine, Carol Fenelon, and Ezra Swerdlow \| {{nom}} \| align="center" rowspan="11"\| {{cite web \|url=https://www.emmys.com/shows/too-big-fail \|title=Too Big to Fail \|website=Emmys.com \|publisher=Academy of Television Arts & Sciences \|access-date=July 13, 2017}}
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie \| William Hurt \| {{nom}}
rowspan="2"\| Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie \| Paul Giamatti \| {{nom}}
James Woods \| {{nom}}
Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special \| Curtis Hanson \| {{nom}}
Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special \| Peter Gould \| {{nom}}
rowspan="5"\| Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards \| Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special \| \| Alexa L. Fogel and Christine Kromer \| {{nom}}
Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or Movie \| Kramer Morgenthau \| {{nom}}
Outstanding Main Title Design \| Michael Riley, Bob Swensen, Adam Bluming, and Cory Shaw \| {{nom}}
Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries or a Movie \| Barbara Tulliver and Plummy Tucker \| {{nom}}
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie \| Jimmy Sabat, Chris Jenkins, and Bob Beemer \| {{nom}}
rowspan="3"\| Satellite Awards \| colspan="2"\| Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television \| {{nom}} \| align="center" rowspan="3"\| {{cite web\|url=https://www.pressacademy.com/award_cat/2011/ \|title=2011 Satellite Awards \|work=Satellite Awards \|publisher=International Press Academy \|access-date=July 10, 2021}}
Best Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television \| William Hurt \| {{nom}}
Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television \| James Woods \| {{nom}}
Television Critics Association Awards \| colspan="2"\| Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials \| {{nom}} \| align="center"\| {{cite web\|url=http://tvcritics.org/2011/06/13/the-television-critics-association-announces-2011-tca-awards-nominees/ \|title=The Television Critics Association Announces 2011 TCA Awards Nominees \|date=June 13, 2011 \|publisher=Television Critics Association \|accessdate=June 15, 2013 \|url-status=dead\|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140213154537/http://tvcritics.org/2011/06/13/the-television-critics-association-announces-2011-tca-awards-nominees/ \|archivedate=February 13, 2014 }}
rowspan="10"\| {{center\|2012}} \| Art Directors Guild Awards \| Excellence in Production Design Award – Television Movie or Mini-Series \| Bob Shaw, Miguel López-Castillo, Katya Blumenberg, Larry M. Gruber, Holly Watson, Peter Hackman, and Carol Silverman \| {{nom}} \| align="center"\| {{cite web\|url=https://adg.org/awards/adg/winners/2011/ \|title=Nominees/Winners \|publisher=Art Directors Guild \|accessdate=July 29, 2018}}
Cinema Audio Society Awards \| Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Movies and Mini-Series \| James Sabat, Chris Jenkins, Bob Beemer, and Chris Fogel \| {{won}} \| align="center"\| {{cite web\|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/hugo-moneyball-super-8-cinema-audio-society-awards-283058 \|title='Hanna,' 'Hugo' and 'Moneyball' Nominated for Cinema Audio Society Awards \|date=January 19, 2012 \|publisher=The Hollywood Reporter \|accessdate=May 9, 2019}}
rowspan="3"\| Golden Globe Awards \| colspan="2"\| Best Miniseries or Television Film \| {{nom}} \| align="center" rowspan="3"\| {{cite web\|url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/tv-show/too-big-fail \|title=Too Big to Fail – Golden Globes \|website=HFPA \|access-date=July 5, 2021 \|ref={{harvid\|HFPA\|2012}}}}
Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film \| William Hurt \| {{nom}}
Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film \| Paul Giamatti \| {{nom}}
Guild of Music Supervisors Awards \| Best Music Supervision for Television Long Form and Movie \| Evyen Klean{{efn\|Also for Cinema Verite, Mildred Pierce and The Sunset Limited.}} \| {{won}} \| align="center"\|
Producers Guild of America Awards \| David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television \| Carol Fenelon, Jeffrey Levine, and Paula Weinstein \| {{nom}} \| align="center"\| {{cite news\|last1=Kilday\|first1=Gregg\|title=Producers Guild Awards Name 'The Artist' Motion Picture of Year; 'Boardwalk Empire' Scores TV Drama (Winners List)\|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/pga-awards-the-artist-modern-family-tin-tin-2012-winners-list-283808\|accessdate=February 9, 2018\|work=The Hollywood Reporter\|date=January 21, 2012}}
rowspan="2"\| Screen Actors Guild Awards \| rowspan="2"\| Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries \| Paul Giamatti \| {{won}} \| align="center" rowspan="2"\| {{cite web\|url=http://www.sagawards.org/awards/nominees-and-recipients/18th-annual-screen-actors-guild-awards \|title=The 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards \|work=Screen Actors Guild Awards \|access-date=May 21, 2016}}
James Woods \| {{nom}}
Writers Guild of America Awards \| Long Form – Adapted \| Peter Gould; Based on the book by Andrew Ross Sorkin \| {{won}} \| align="center"\| {{cite web\| title = Previous Nominees & Winners: 2012 Awards Winners\| publisher = Writers Guild Awards\| url = http://www.wga.org/wga-awards/previous-nominees-winners.aspx\| access-date = May 7, 2014\| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150512181500/http://www.wga.org/wga-awards/previous-nominees-winners.aspx\| archive-date = May 12, 2015\| url-status = dead}}

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Award

! Category

! Nominee(s)

! Result

! Ref.

rowspan="23"| {{center|2011}}

| Artios Awards

| Outstanding Achievement in Casting – Television Movie/Mini Series

| Alexa L. Fogel and Christine Kromer

| {{nom}}

| align="center"| {{Cite web |url=https://www.castingsociety.com/awards/artios/2011 |title=2011 Artios Awards |access-date=September 26, 2011 |website=www.castingsociety.com |language=en}}

rowspan="2"| Hollywood Post Alliance Awards

| Outstanding Color Grading – Television

| Kevin O'Connor

| {{nom}}

| align="center" rowspan="2"| {{cite web |url=https://hpaonline.com/nominees-and-winners/2011-hpa-awards/ |title=2011 HPA Awards |website=Hollywood Professional Association |access-date=September 8, 2022}}

Outstanding Sound – Television

| Michael Kirchberger, Chris Jenkins, and
Bob Beemer

| {{nom}}

rowspan="5"| Online Film & Television Association Awards

| Best Actor in a Motion Picture or Miniseries

| William Hurt

| {{nom}}

| align="center" rowspan="5"| {{cite web |url=http://www.oftaawards.com/television-awards/15th-annual-tv-awards-2010-11/ |title=15th Annual TV Awards (2010-11) |website=Online Film & Television Association |access-date=May 15, 2021}}

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture or Miniseries

| Paul Giamatti

| {{won}}

Best Direction of a Motion Picture or Miniseries

| Curtis Hanson

| {{nom}}

Best Writing of a Motion Picture or Miniseries

| Peter Gould

| {{nom}}

colspan="2"| Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture or Miniseries

| {{nom}}

rowspan="6"| Primetime Emmy Awards

| Outstanding Miniseries or Movie

| Curtis Hanson, Paula Weinstein,
Jeffrey Levine, Carol Fenelon, and
Ezra Swerdlow

| {{nom}}

| align="center" rowspan="11"| {{cite web |url=https://www.emmys.com/shows/too-big-fail |title=Too Big to Fail |website=Emmys.com |publisher=Academy of Television Arts & Sciences |access-date=July 13, 2017}}

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie

| William Hurt

| {{nom}}

rowspan="2"| Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie

| Paul Giamatti

| {{nom}}

James Woods

| {{nom}}

Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special

| Curtis Hanson

| {{nom}}

Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special

| Peter Gould

| {{nom}}

rowspan="5"| Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards

| Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special

| | Alexa L. Fogel and Christine Kromer

| {{nom}}

Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or Movie

| Kramer Morgenthau

| {{nom}}

Outstanding Main Title Design

| Michael Riley, Bob Swensen,
Adam Bluming, and Cory Shaw

| {{nom}}

Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries or a Movie

| Barbara Tulliver and Plummy Tucker

| {{nom}}

Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie

| Jimmy Sabat, Chris Jenkins, and
Bob Beemer

| {{nom}}

rowspan="3"| Satellite Awards

| colspan="2"| Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television

| {{nom}}

| align="center" rowspan="3"| {{cite web|url=https://www.pressacademy.com/award_cat/2011/ |title=2011 Satellite Awards |work=Satellite Awards |publisher=International Press Academy |access-date=July 10, 2021}}

Best Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television

| William Hurt

| {{nom}}

Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture
Made for Television

| James Woods

| {{nom}}

Television Critics Association Awards

| colspan="2"| Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries and Specials

| {{nom}}

| align="center"| {{cite web|url=http://tvcritics.org/2011/06/13/the-television-critics-association-announces-2011-tca-awards-nominees/ |title=The Television Critics Association Announces 2011 TCA Awards Nominees |date=June 13, 2011 |publisher=Television Critics Association |accessdate=June 15, 2013 |url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140213154537/http://tvcritics.org/2011/06/13/the-television-critics-association-announces-2011-tca-awards-nominees/ |archivedate=February 13, 2014 }}

rowspan="10"| {{center|2012}}

| Art Directors Guild Awards

| Excellence in Production Design Award – Television Movie or Mini-Series

| Bob Shaw, Miguel López-Castillo,
Katya Blumenberg, Larry M. Gruber,
Holly Watson, Peter Hackman,
and Carol Silverman

| {{nom}}

| align="center"| {{cite web|url=https://adg.org/awards/adg/winners/2011/ |title=Nominees/Winners |publisher=Art Directors Guild |accessdate=July 29, 2018}}

Cinema Audio Society Awards

| Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Movies and Mini-Series

| James Sabat, Chris Jenkins,
Bob Beemer, and Chris Fogel

| {{won}}

| align="center"| {{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/hugo-moneyball-super-8-cinema-audio-society-awards-283058 |title='Hanna,' 'Hugo' and 'Moneyball' Nominated for Cinema Audio Society Awards |date=January 19, 2012 |publisher=The Hollywood Reporter |accessdate=May 9, 2019}}

rowspan="3"| Golden Globe Awards

| colspan="2"| Best Miniseries or Television Film

| {{nom}}

| align="center" rowspan="3"| {{cite web|url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/tv-show/too-big-fail |title=Too Big to Fail – Golden Globes |website=HFPA |access-date=July 5, 2021 |ref={{harvid|HFPA|2012}}}}

Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film

| William Hurt

| {{nom}}

Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film

| Paul Giamatti

| {{nom}}

Guild of Music Supervisors Awards

| Best Music Supervision for Television Long Form and Movie

| Evyen Klean{{efn|Also for Cinema Verite, Mildred Pierce and The Sunset Limited.}}

| {{won}}

| align="center"|

Producers Guild of America Awards

| David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television

| Carol Fenelon, Jeffrey Levine, and
Paula Weinstein

| {{nom}}

| align="center"| {{cite news|last1=Kilday|first1=Gregg|title=Producers Guild Awards Name 'The Artist' Motion Picture of Year; 'Boardwalk Empire' Scores TV Drama (Winners List)|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/pga-awards-the-artist-modern-family-tin-tin-2012-winners-list-283808|accessdate=February 9, 2018|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=January 21, 2012}}

rowspan="2"| Screen Actors Guild Awards

| rowspan="2"| Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

| Paul Giamatti

| {{won}}

| align="center" rowspan="2"| {{cite web|url=http://www.sagawards.org/awards/nominees-and-recipients/18th-annual-screen-actors-guild-awards |title=The 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards |work=Screen Actors Guild Awards |access-date=May 21, 2016}}

James Woods

| {{nom}}

Writers Guild of America Awards

| Long Form – Adapted

| Peter Gould;
Based on the book by Andrew Ross Sorkin

| {{won}}

| align="center"| {{cite web| title = Previous Nominees & Winners: 2012 Awards Winners| publisher = Writers Guild Awards| url = http://www.wga.org/wga-awards/previous-nominees-winners.aspx| access-date = May 7, 2014| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150512181500/http://www.wga.org/wga-awards/previous-nominees-winners.aspx| archive-date = May 12, 2015| url-status = dead}}

Home media

The DVD was released on June 12, 2012.{{cite web|title=Too Big to Fail|work=Complete Season DVDs|url=http://www.completeseasondvds.com/dvd-info/B004EPYZDA/Too-Big-to-Fail.html|access-date=June 28, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305235459/http://www.completeseasondvds.com/dvd-info/B004EPYZDA/Too-Big-to-Fail.html|archive-date=March 5, 2016}}