- In the 1960s, two African-American entrepreneurs hire a working-class white man to pretend to be the head of their business empire while they pose as a janitor and chauffeur.
- Revolutionary businessmen Bernard Garrett (Anthony Mackie) and Joe Morris (Samuel L. Jackson) devise an audacious and risky plan to take on the racist establishment of the 1960s by helping other African Americans pursue the American dream. Along with Garrett's wife Eunice (Nia Long), they train a working class white man, Matt Steiner (Nicholas Hoult), to pose as the rich and privileged face of their burgeoning real estate and banking empire - while Garrett and Morris pose as a janitor and a chauffeur. Their success ultimately draws the attention of the federal government, which threatens everything the four have built.
- Revolutionary businessmen Bernard Garrett (Anthony Mackie) and Joe Morris (Samuel L. Jackson) devise an audacious and risky plan to take on the racist establishment of the 1960s by helping other African Americans pursue the American dream. Along with Garrett's wife Eunice (Nia Long), they train a working class white man, Matt Steiner (Nicholas Hoult), to pose as the rich and privileged face of their burgeoning real estate and banking empire - while Garrett and Morris pose as a janitor and a chauffeur. Their success ultimately draws the attention of the federal government, which threatens everything the four have built.
Bernard learned banking in 1939 by shining shoes outside a bank and hearing customers and bankers talk about their business. His father told him that he was talented, but that wouldn't amount to anything in the racist Texas. Bernard goes to LA in 1954. He is married and has a son. He wants to use his savings from a company he ran in Texas to start a real estate business in LA. Bernard finds a gated society in a white neighborhood, which is 2 blocks away from a colored society, and knows that there will be plenty of demand for houses to rent. However the asking price is high and he wont have anything left over to renovate. Eunice takes him to Joe to be his co-investor. Joe is a casual man, who starts drinking early, and Bernard is the serious type. Bernard doesn't like Joe.
Patrick Barker (Colm Meaney) the man selling the society is asking $40K. Bernard explains that he will pay $30K, then renovate the building to rent it to colored doctors and lawyers who are well paid but are forced to live in slums as there are no other options. This would improve building occupancy from current 50% to 100%. Bernard will pay Patrick the other $10K in 9 months time. Patrick likes Bernard's confidence and helps him get a loan from the bank to pay him his $10K upfront.
Joe warns Bernard against trusting Patrick. Bernard hires Matt (a white man) to do renovations on the "white" building as the current "white" inhabitants complained about Bernard's presence. Soon enough the white residents move out and Bernard leases the apartment to colored tenants. Patrick offers a deal for a 50:50 partnership in future investments, with the condition that Patrick will be the face for the deals and Bernard will work behind the scenes. They buy a dozen properties together, but then Patrick dies. Mrs Barker (Rhoda Griffis) is not comfortable doing business with Bernard and offers him a fraction (25%) of the money he put in (since his name is not on any of the investments). Bernard goes to the Banker who loaned him to help him prove Patrick's intention, but the banker refuses to meet him.
Bernard goes to Joe with a plan to buy the bank's building and then use the knowledge of the bank to buy properties in white neighborhoods in LA. He convinces Joe to hire Matt as the "white" CEO of their company, which would make it easier for them to buy anything they want. They teach Maths and golf to Matt so he talk and walk like a white educated man. Donald Silverthorne (Paul Ben-Victor) is a banker from SFO who finances Joe and Bernard. Matt acts very smart, memorizes all the numbers and buys a $2MM property for $1.56MM. Bernard goes on a property buying spree.
Matt marries Susie (Taylor Black), a girl he had met at the local diner. Soon the company owns 200 buildings. Soon, Bernard comes with a plan to buy a bank in his home town in Texas, which is still racially very segregated. Joe warns him against this, but Bernard is adamant that he can help more white folks with this. Bernard and Joe again use Matt as front to buy the Mainland bank. This time the owner of the bank secures a job for his son Robert Florance, Jr. (Scott Daniel Johnson) as a loan officer (along with a 20% stake), as part of the deal.
Robert quickly figures out that after acquiring Matt is approving loans to colored homes and businesses. Meanwhile Susie is pushing Matt that he should not allow colored people to treat his like an employee. Florence reports the banks' activities and the bank is to be audited by the US treasury in a month. Matt proposes that the trio buy another bank (The Marlin Bank( and move the colored loans to Marlin till Mainland is audited. To circumvent the ownership problem, he proposes that Joe and Bernard let Matt run Marlin on his own. Bernard is against this, but Matt threatens to resign if they don't agree. Joe convinces Bernard.
Matt takes charge of Marlin and soon shifts the loans onto the Marlin's books. Within a week the US Treasury official comes to Matt to audit Marlin's books. The official finds several loans in the books that are not according to the banking act. Turns out that Matt had hired a lawyer suggested by Florence to buy the loans from Mainland and the lawyer teamed with Florence to add a few loans that violated the banking act within the package that Matt didn't check properly. This forces Joe and Bernard to help Matt sell 27 loans within a week and take a hit of $300K on their books. Joe and Bernard tell Matt that Marlin would have to close to absorb the losses.
Matt decides to use the Mainland to buy the dud loans from the new bank at face value, thus keeping the new bank solvent. This is fraud. Mainland is closed by the US Govt and Joe + Bernard are arrested by the FBI. Matt is offered a deal by the FBI to testify against Joe and Bernard or face jail time himself. Matt lies. Joe and Bernard are convicted in 1965 by an all-white jury and sent to 3 yrs in prison. Of the 177 buildings they owned, only one was left as it was in Eunice's name. Robert Florance bought the Mainland bank back from the GOvt at a fraction of the cost Bernard and Joe paid for it to his father.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content