The Big Short
3.5 Waffles!

Those in power hate the people who see through their lies, hypocrisy and strong arm tactics, so it should be no surprise a group of nonconformists and outsiders found little interest when they discovered the steamroller heading straight at the American economy and tried to sound the alarm. However, it’s still sad.

Christian Bale stars as Michael Burry – an awkward, loner genius who has made a small name for himself as an investor with a great track record. What he is seeing now has him baffled and amazed. Instead of just investing in Mortgage Backed Securities, he decides to take a closer look.

Upon examination, Michael realizes they are more vulnerable than anyone could ever imagine. While traditionally, these vehicles had been a safe investment, Michael digs deeper to see the rate of default is growing, the mortgages issued are more risky than anyone wants to admit, and the system is about to collapse. So, he decides to put all of his money into the possibility of that collapse.

While Michael is picking up on the signs, so are guys like Mark Baum (Steve Carell), Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling), Charlie Geller (John Magaro), Jamie Shipley (Finn Whitrock) and Ben Rickert (Brad Pitt). All of them have reasons to get involved. All of them want to make a quick killing on the collapse. Yet, they also start to realize why it is happening, and try to sound some alarms to those who should care.

While we all know the end of the story (in general), what happens along the way is what should have you upset and grips the audience’s attention.

Writer/director Adam McKay is best known for his work with Will Ferrell on kooky movies like Anchorman and The Other Guys, but he brings just enough comic sensibility to The Big Short to keep it entertaining, while never losing focus on the seriousness of the story or the motivations of the characters.

Along with co-writer Charles Randolph (based on the book by Michael Lewis), McKay takes the audience through the labyrinth of regulators, media members, investors and more who willingly turned a blind eye to what was sitting right in front of them because it served their interest. Sadly, that interest rarely, if ever, was the truth and living up to their duties, which is what angers the audience, especially those who already felt the pain and rage over how these events played out back in 2008 (as well as the consequences).

It’s one of the sharpest scripts of the year as this motley crew of characters colorfully and expertly takes the audience on a journey equally dramatic and comedic with hilarious reactions, explanations and explorations.

However, the comedy can go a bit too far. McKay and Randolph know this is complicated material to understand, and resort to a condescending tactic to explain it to us. From time to time, they trot out some famous actor, television personality or pop star to define a concept or explain the importance of what is happening on the screen.

However, these scenes are much too cute and much too insulting. Justin Bieber is not seeing The Big Short. People with a little more brains are watching and don’t need Selena Gomez or Margot Robbie on screen to capture our attention (no matter how entertaining it is to see Margot Robbie in a bubble bath).

The Big Short is the movie you should see after you watch Star Wars.

The Big Short is rated R for pervasive language and some sexuality/nudity.