Storifying America's financial meltdown

Here's the trailer from the upcoming HBO film "Too Big to Fail," directed by Curtis Hanson ("L.A. Confidential") and based on the best-selling book of the same name by NYT columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin. (Not to say there's any professional jealousy among NY-based financial writers who manage to find something to post about a floor trader's hangnail, but the silence concerning "Too Big to Fail" is deafening.) Taking center stage is William Hurt, who plays former Treasury Secretary (and former Goldman Sachs CEO) Hank Paulson. From McClatchy-Tribune:

"I got to play a guy who crosses the line from the private sector to the public sector," he says. "And they're different jobs. You do different things in different contexts. So that was one of the most interesting parts for me, is Paulson who is a street fighter ... a guy who is not used to hearing 'no' in the street, to a guy who is working now for the American people. And what do you do in relationship to that responsibility?" Hurt spent considerable time with Paulson. "He was very generous with his time, for a lot of reasons. So that was utterly fascinating for me. And he was open, I think. So that was a thrill. And to be able to ask some very pointed questions and get some very direct answers about those questions was, this is a sideline, but it was thrilling, just wonderful for me."

Film premieres May 23.