Review of The Big Short (2015) by J D — 15 Mar 2016

Adam McKay did a perfect job in bringing a film and especially the one with the complex issue about the financial crisis in 2007. It is one of the complex subjects about the market crashing, resulting millions of people being homeless, losing their jobs, losing their life savings, ect. McKay does go over the issue with a wall breaking narrative, showing us the inside and the few people that discovered that their was going to be a failure in the house market a couple of years prior to the crisis. It is an engaging, strong drama film, which is kind of scary with the fact that all this actually did happen. McKayâ(TM)s script does add some humor to lighten the mood and keeping the serious direction with the subject. When it comes to complexity of the process on the crisis, the script allows the narrator Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling) break the wall barrier and speak to the audience and laying out the collateral debt obligations and so on using celebrity cameos like Margot Robbie in a bath tub scene or Selena Gomez in a casino. McKay does have some fun, laying out the financial trade swap and debt while keeping the plot engaging at a pace.

The plot follows eccentric fund manager Michael (Christian Bale), who discovers that the house market is unstable and the loans are at risk with few returns. He predicts the house market would crash in 2007, which he takes the advantages of profiting from the crash by credit default swap which the banks and investment dealers thinks the house market is rising and will continue to increase. The investors thinks he is wasting his money on the swap market but continue to grant him his request. Trader Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling) overhears Michaels actions about housing market crashing in 2007 which he predicts it can happen. He also joins in the default swap market and along with hedge fund manager Mark (Steve Carrell) which he is convinced by Jared. Then, young amateur investors Charlie (John Magaro) and Jamie (Finn Wittrock) both find Jareds research about the default swap on the lobby of a major bank that they both were rejected by. They visit a retired banker Ben (Brad Pitt) to walkthrough with them, the process of making these deals.

Christian Bale, Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling, and Brad Pitt all did phenomenal jobs with their performances. Bale, playing a character that is socially awkward. Carrell, a character that is committed to his job and says he loves his job but looks like he despite on what he does which causes him to have melt downs a lot. The film does go in the dark direction, as Mark investigates about the housing market as he travels to Florida. He visits a new housing area, were people are being cheated by the mortgage brokers, and they are coming close to being evicted as they are unaware of the rates. The Big Short does explore the housing market and the economic bubble of the rise and fall in the crisis with talented performances, witty direction. Even the mixture in tone of having some humor in such dark matter can be out of place at times. It is still a sharp drama film.