Review of The Big Short (2015) by Patrick L — 27 Mar 2016

"Adam McKay has made one of the most biting and outrageous movies I've ever seen".

Movie Review: The Big Short.

Date Viewed: December 26 2015.

Directed By Adam McKay (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Step Brothers, Talladega Nights and The Other Guys).

Screenplay By Adam McKay and Charles Randolph, Based on the book by Michael Lewis.

Starring: Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt, John Magaro, Finn Wittrock, Hamish Linklater, Jeremy Strong, Rafe Spall, Byron Mann, Melissa Leo and Marisa Tomei.

The 2008 financial collapse could've been prevented, if only the big banks didn't bet against the market. A few outsiders knew the collapse was coming but no one listened. "The Big Short" is one of those rare movies that's funny, frightening and sad at the same time. Director Adam McKay (Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Step Brothers) has made one of the most biting and outrageous movies I've ever seen. This movie is smart, clever, hilarious and even terrifying. McKay is known for being a frequent collaborator with Will Ferrell and a veteran writer with "Saturday Night Live", now he has chosen to make his first serious movie as a filmmaker. "The Big Short" does have hard laughs in it but McKay's film is a satire and a dramatic wake-up call to people who work at America's financial center.

Before the start of the financial crisis, we follow three groups of people who discovered the fracture for America's economy. Christian Bale plays Michael Burry, a hedge fund manager who discovers that the U.S. housing market is really unstable and urges his bosses and politicians in Washington, D.C. to act now before it is too late. Ryan Gosling plays Jared Vennett, a cocky trader who sniffs out what's happening to the economy. He soon recruits a financial wiz named Mark Baum (played by Steve Carell), he maybe socially awkward around people but he has the guts to take on the big banks. Their job is to go on a state-by-state tour about the state of the housing market and the U.S. economy.

Meanwhile, two eager young investors, Charlie Geller (John Magaro) and Jamie Shipley (Finn Wittrock) get into the fray too with the help of retired banker and doomsday prepper Ben Rickert (Brad Pitt). The state of America's economy is truly dire and some of these stock brokers are flat-out assholes. In one scene, two young stock brokers mock about poor people and immigrants as they think they're responsible for making the economy much worse. This movie even has cameos from Selena Gomez playing in the casino table, Anthony Bourdain cooking in the kitchen and Margot Robbie in a bathtub as they talk about America's financial crisis directly to the audience.

Based on the book by Michael Lewis who also wrote "Moneyball", "The Big Short" will leave you feeling angry but also satisfied. The screenplay by McKay and Charles Randolph is intelligent and scathing. The cast is simply terrific, Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt are all great in small but important roles. This movie is like Martin Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street" but with no drugs, hard sex and naughty humor. "The Big Short" must've been a difficult story to adapt to the big screen but who knew the director who did "Talladega Nights", the two "Anchorman" movies and "Step Brothers" was the man for the job?

I was glued to the screen all the way through, "The Big Short" tackles it's subject matter hard without any flaws.

"The Big Short" is without a doubt in my mind one of the best movies of 2015.