Writer/director Adam McKay is known for some of the most memorable comedies of the past ten years or so. Known for usually pairing himself with Will Ferrell, the talented McKay ventured off his normal path when he came onboard to help save Ant-Man’s script with Paul Rudd, which came out earlier this year, but now he has a new movie, one that’s got some awards buzz around it. Directed and co-written by him, McKay turns his keen eye towards a topic we’d least expect him to, the financial crash of 2007-2008, and he does so with the grace of a director whose tackled biographical dramas for years, but with a bit more wit.
The Big Short follows three, which turns into four, outsiders who, thanks to one individual, discover that the world’s financial institutions are not very stable and that the recklessness of the big banks would lead to the financial crisis of 2007/2008. When they discover the situation, each player decides to take the biggest gamble ever, shorting the US housing market which is notorious for being solid as a rock, in the hopes of making millions and maybe even a billion dollars while taking a shot at the banks’ scandalous ways via the newly created credit default swaps. The film focuses on three main arcs, Dr. Michael Burry (Christian Bale) and his fund, two young go-getters Jamie Shipley (Finn Wittrock) and Charlie Geller (John Magaro) who utilizing their mentor Ben Rickert (Brad Pitt) to make things happen, and then Mark Baum’s (Steve Carell) angry fund that distrusts everyone but who reluctantly teams with bank trader Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling) who brought them the golden opportunity. Note: Names in the film are different than the real life individuals as this is based on a true story.
There are a ton of things to love about The Big Short from the writing, its style, editing, the acting and its tone. Firstly, you don’t need to be a finance person to enjoy the movie. Why? Because anything that seems complicated is laid out in simplistic terms for the audience albeit entertaining anecdotes using celebrities that have nothing to do with the movie. They’re great cutaways that certainly help clear up any confusion that might arise from what’s being discussed on screen.
Secondly, the acting is great. Everyone in the cast does a stand-out job, from the awkward and intelligent performance from Cristian Bale, to the incredibly angry but well-intentioned Mark Baum (Steve Carell), and the paranoid intellect/yoda master Ben Rickert (Brad Pitt) just to name a few. While they all operate independently from each other due to the three different story arcs, they each follow their own path to achieving the same goal, and that’s what the film focuses on.
Thirdly, the fast paced style, aggressive editing and focus on taking a more high energy and comical tone really helps makes the film accessible to the masses. Does it want to be The Wolf of Wall Street at times? Sure, but when you want to make a great movie about a time when so many people lost a ton of money and their homes, sometimes it’s easier to digest it through a comedic lens so long as it’s clear how tragic the results were, which McKay certainly addresses.
The film can seem a little repetitive at times, simply due to the fact that each individual arc is searching for the same end goal and, with two of them crossing the same paths, but I found it pretty easy to overlook. Maybe it’s because I was super into the topic as a business school grad or maybe it’s because I was sitting through a prestige drama that didn’t actually feel like a slow, heavy handed prestige drama.
The Big Short is a tragic comedy. It has a ton of wit, some great laughs but it’s also incredibly upsetting and frustrating. While entertaining is one goal of the film, the other is its message of carelessness and irresponsibility of the financial institutions in the United States. Our lust for greed and simple carelessness caused the mess and this movie explains it all very clearly why it happened and what the disappointing results were, for those that don’t already know. It’s also a really cool opportunity to see how a handful of smart/lucky people realized what was going on and how they played the system (either for their own selfish desires, to take advantage of an opportunity or to strike back at the corrupt system they existed in). While I enjoyed Legend, I think The Big Short is the movie to see this weekend, it’s the most complete and enjoyable of them all, especially for people who enjoy a good business movie.
Recent Comments