The Big Short (2015) Review!!!

Synopsis – Four outsiders in the world of high-finance who predicted the credit and housing bubble collapse of the mid-2000s decide to take on the big banks for their lack of foresight and greed.

My Take – Based on the book by Michael Lewis, this Adam McKay (Anchorman films, The Other Guys) directed film focuses on the build-up of the housing and credit bubble during the 2000s. It details some of the main people who were directly responsible for said build-up, those who knew that the bubble was eventually going to burst and ultimately profited from the financial crisis of 2007-2010. The film also highlights those who experienced the biggest losses from the market crash, as well as the unique personalities and actions of those closest to the crisis. For director Adam McKay, who many audiences can associate with comedies such as “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” “Step Brothers” , ‘The Other Guys”, and “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” this is his first major film that doesn’t use Will Ferrell as the lead actor, and it features way more dramatic material than his other films. There is still a level of humor present, but it has less jokes and more dry humor or smart or sarcastic comebacks and amusing ways of saying something. The film’s narrative is driven by four cynical, fringe Wall Street entities disgusted with the large banking institutions’ overriding greed for profits. They make the decision to capitalize on the ensuing housing market calamity and the financial meltdown of 2008 upon discovering the market frenzy is being driven by worthless collateral debt obligations. McKay chooses to inject a significant dose of humor in the early scenes to condition the audience receptors for what they are about to experience. Utilizing the Martin Scorsese docudrama style in a similar setting with “Wolf of Wall Street,” a strong narrative voice dominates particular moments. Several of these deliberately break the ‘Fourth Wall” in the style of “Wolfie,” Jordan Belfort, as the characters, including a hilarious cameo by Selena Gomez, speak directly into the camera to explain the complexities of Wall Street finance.

The overall effect adds additional humor and adds another layer in creating a sense of authenticity and truth about the film’s subject matter. After a rather lengthy dizzying, yet delightful, character introduction, the film picks up pace as the drama begins to unfold. The story follows Scion Capital founder Michael Burry (Christian Bale), several years before the 2008 housing market crash, who notices the subprime mortgage vulnerabilities and seizes the opportunity to invest. Purchasing large quantities of credit default swaps from numerous major banks, his unorthodox activities attract the attention of trader Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling), who in turn convinces FrontPoint Partners hedge fund manager Mark Baum (Steve Carell) to buy into the scheme. Also weaved into the narrative are Jamie Shipley (Finn Wittrock) and Charlie Geller (John Magaro), two small-time “garage band” investors who desperately want a seat next to the big boys, but can’t get past the lobby. They find an abandoned prospectus about the big short (the film uses more technical terms, but I won’t encumber this review with them) on a coffee table, and Wittrock turns to the camera and says that didn’t really happen, that the real-life Shipley and Geller actually read about the short in a magazine. They call an old friend, retired investor Ben Rickert (Brad Pitt), to help them out; Ben is a paranoiac and a germophobe who loathed his time on Wall Street, but was obviously made comfortably rich by it, and now can’t resist a sure thing. Despite extreme criticism from colleagues and severe skepticism from clients, the obstinate few that forged ahead and bet against the economy wound up making billions while the rest of the world lost trillions. Taking a cue from “The Wolf of Wall Street,” in which reprehensible swindlers profit at the expense of clueless clients in a markedly flamboyant style, the film hopes to lure audiences with its own brand of high spirits. But all of the editing gimmicks grow tiresome quickly, revealing the flimsiness of the story and the disagreeableness of the characters. Breaking the fourth wall, varyingly paced montages, slow-motion, on-screen graphics, unusual narration, and Margot Robbie in a bubble bath are but a few of the jazzy distractions aimed at spicing up an inherently boring subject: the 2008 U.S. financial crisis. If the facts of the situation weren’t so fascinating (and there are several details presented here as facts that are actually complete lies), the theatrics would be almost entirely wasted. There is humanity in this movie: Baum rages; Vennett seethes; Burry sweats; Shipley, Geller and Rickert wrangle their guilt. They’re at a moral precipice as the economy teeters on the brink of catastrophe. Their families are mostly off-screen, concerned voices or smiling faces in photos. Baum’s wife (Marisa Tomei) tries to engage something in him beyond numbness and anger. Those are familiar feelings to the audience – numbness from the complexity of the swindles and manipulations, anger at the inevitability past the first inevitability, a two-syllable word that even a riotously funny Ryan Gosling’s character can’t speak without going too far beyond comedy: bailout.

McKay‘s approach here is “throw everything in, including the kitchen sink” and that creates an energetic, brilliantly matched representation of the subject matter. This does not mean he is lacking control, however. The story being told includes so many facets and characters that it easily could have fallen into disarray, but McKay makes every single character memorable and illuminates every piece of jargon that could be confusing from the outset. It’s a huge accomplishment and a far more important one than might seem apparent. The things that were allowed to happen in the realms of business, finance, and banking are absolutely insane and unbelievable. It has to be largely comedic because there’s no other way of delivering this vast amount of information and complete failure of our entire society and make it all snap into place so continuously, without being ripped apart by the overwhelming darkness of it all. This isn’t simply circumstantial and theoretical and mysterious to a degree, as in Oliver Stone‘s “JFK“, but the cold hard truth. Aside from Bale, Carell, Gosling, and Pitt, there is a top-notch ensemble of quality actors present in the film. Some of these include Melissa Leo, Hamish Linklater, Jeremy Strong, Marisa Tomei, John Magaro, and a variety of odd cameos, such as Selena Gomez, Margot Robbie, Anthony Bourdain, Max Greenfield, and Karen Gillan. Bale and Carell steal the show, but most everyone plays their part well. Christian Bale goes all out as Dr. Michael Burry, a physician who runs an investment fund. Burry (the only person who allowed his real name to be used) worked in shorts and bare feet, blasted heavy metal, and had no social skills. He found out the housing market was nothing but a shell game by digging into the numbers and couldn’t get anyone in government to listen. Steve Carell, with technically the most screen time, has the best scenes of the film, which he completely utilizes in his favor. Ryan Gosling, Finn Wittrock & John Magaro excel, while Brad Pitt is likable in a small role. The ladies – Marisa Tomei & Karen Gillian don’t have much to do. On the whole, ‘The Big Short‘ is a highly entertaining, extremely smart, informative, all around well-acted, very amusing, and one of the most unique and best films I’ve seen this year.