The
Big Short
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.
|