The Big Short - B+

Quick Hit: A movie that starts off strong and riveting, falters heavily in the second act, but cleans it up a bit to finish strong.

There have been lots of movies made about corruption, about bad guys doing bad things, about complicated topics that most lay people don’t understand. However, sometimes, you have to go into those films with some understanding of the “nuts and bolts”, so to speak, about what the movie is about. But occasionally, films come along that present a tough topic (like the housing crisis of 2008) and throw around terms like “sub-prime mortgages” and “96% rated triple A bonds” and “CDOs”. That’s what The Big Short is about, and damned if it doesn’t do an excellent job explaining those terms in an accessible manner.

​Lots of credit for those goes to the director, Adam McKay. You may know him from some of his previous films, frequently as a collaborator with Will Ferrell (Talledega Nights, Anchorman). And why some vestiges of those movies remain (mainly the humor), The Big Short is a very different movie entirely. It’s not a comedy, it’s a drama, or some might even say a historical horror (I’m not sure that’s a category in real 

life – but it seems like it could be). The Big Short takes the previously mentioned housing crisis, and explains it to us, frequently using a fourth wall break for the characters to explain things that happened prior to “collapse of the global economy”, such as the sleazy way that the fat cats of the banks along wall street set up the system in a way that it was bound to fail, by stacking risking mortgages with risky mortgages, often times with no verification of income or even a job.

​Other credit for this film goes to Hank Corwin, editor of the film. All the clips are fast moving, and angles are constantly changing our view of the film. We are also often treated to a barrage of images of the outside world of the early 2000s, and everything from music videos, celebrity interviews, and even commercials make appearances. While some times in this film I  

I thought this may have been the best scene in the movie.

 loved it, there were other times that it seemed to fall apart a bit (namely the middle of the film). This is because when the film is at its best, it’s manic and energetic. In the middle of the film, there’s just not enough for the characters to do but sit around and wait. The story then suffers, first by lack of movement, and then the editing/camerawork follow suit, and the restless energy disappears for a time before surging back for the climax.

Other credit has to be given to the strong cast of actors. I think that Steve Carrell was a perfect cast. I don’t know if he is actually an angry man in real life, but it always seems that his characters are carrying a large amount of anger within them. Baum is no exception. Ryan Gosling also makes a good appearance as our narrator/one of the bankers who decides to get into the market of “shorts” while he can, with the sole reason to make an absurd profit. He is constantly reminding of us by his actions that 

he is not a good person, that he is the type of person that caused this crisis, but because it’s Ryan Gosling, it’s hard to hate him.

​Christian Bale also makes a good appearance as a disheveled, savant(think Rain Man)-type investor who is the first person to notice that the economy is set up to fail. He makes himself repellant at times, but his confidence always

seems highest when he is around other people. When he is alone, you can see the vulnerability seep through, and this is a true testament to Bale’s performance.

Frankly, this movie terrified me. As a young man with a house (though a good mortgage that I can actually afford), and a 401k that grows bigger every 15 days, it was a bit of an eye-opener. Because, there is something about the market that is just… untrustworthy. But the way our society is set up now, you need it. It would be awfully hard to set up for retirement otherwise, without the vested balance, the matching, and the returns. I went to bed scared after watching this movie, and then woke up scared to write this. The movie left its mark.

Honestly, I don't know if I would want that kind of knowledge of the market.

I give The Big Short a “B+”.

For more on this film check out IMDB.