The Big Short (2015)
Rated R
Starring Ryan Gosling, Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Brad Pitt, John Magaro, Finn Wittrock,
Directed by Adam McKay
The Story:
3 separate but equal stories propel the story of the collapse of the housing market. Michael Burry (Bale) begins the proceedings with the realization that the housing bubble is about to explode, not just pop. He invests the millions he has under his control on the fact that this will happen. Banks line up to take his money, and the waiting and the "are you crazy?" begins. Meanwhile Jared Vennett (Gosling) learns of the venture and proposes it to just about everyone until Mark Baum (Carell) decides to invest as well. Finally, two young entrepreneurs (Magaro and Wittrock) enlist the reclusive Ben Rickert (Pitt) to get their feet in the door so they too can all bet against the housing market to crash.
Something it had never, ever done before.
Bet you know how this one ends, right?
Correct, because most of us lived through it, and still haven't fully recovered.
That's what makes this movie so irritating.
It's good, don't get me wrong.
However, McKay has to enlist some weird shtick throughout the movie to inject humor in an otherwise humorless situation.
Why is Margot Robbie in a bathtub? For no other reason than to put her in a tub of bubbles and explain part of the financial crisis.
So the movie can be jarring in delivery from time to time, but otherwise, it's a pretty compelling movie.
However, it's also extremely depressing because you realize that you're rooting for these people to "win", which means the average homeowner loses.
The banks got bailed out, these guys got rich, and it was everyone with a mortgage who ended up getting screwed.
So that sort of tempers the overall enjoyment of the film.
That said, all of the actors do a great job, and you have to give credit to Steve Carell for giving probably the best, and most passionate and pained performance of the entire cast.
Final Grade: B
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