Before the housing crisis of 2005 in America, an eccentric hedge fund manager named Michael Burry (Christian Bale) noticed tell-tale signs that millions of mortgages were about to be foreclosed.
Against the wishes of his employers, Burry began to “short” the market, essentially betting against the big banks. Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling), of Deutschebank, gets wind of what Burry is doing and begins doing the same, which leads to another firm hearing about it, led by an idealist Mark Baum (Steve Carell) fed up with the corruption of the financial industry.
These three groups believe the bankers can’t see what is about to happen and continue to bet that it will. For them to win, the economy will have to lose.
We say, “The Big Short is an enjoyable telling of a horrifying scam.”
HOWE: I like this time of year for movies. The big movie companies seem to hold back their aces hoping to clean up at the Golden Globes and Academy Awards. It’s these 10 per cent of films that make the other 90 per cent of the terrible movies bearable. The Big Short is a film that you have to pay attention to. If you miss a couple of minutes popping out to the loo or grabbing some more popcorn, you would miss something important as to how this mortgage scam worked. It does help having Margo Robbie explain how it works, in layman’s terms. I didn’t even mind some of the narration in this, maybe because it’s quick, to the point and doesn’t drone on for five minutes.
TAYLOR: The Big Short is a movie with a relaxed attitude, occasionally interrupting itself to explain the mad world of American finance. As the film states, we’re not supposed to understand the ins and outs of the machine. Thankfully The Big Short comes up with a few clever metaphors and reminds us of what really matters in life: making sense. In a film that doesn’t follow the traditional rules of storytelling, filmmaking and has a general television-like approach, I don’t mind breaking character or narration.
I think The Big Short doesn’t want to be taken seriously so that it won’t be a bummer.
HOWE: There are some fine performances, especially from Carell. He has proved that he is a very good actor, be it in a comedy or a more serious role like in Foxcatcher.
Bale proves that he is not just a voice behind a mask and Gosling shows that he has talent and not just a pretty face.
TAYLOR: Bale is amazing, he’s on my list for this film as a supporting actor Oscar contender. Everyone else was fine, there’s a buzz around Carell this year, for this film, but I don’t see it. Gosling always looks like he doesn’t want to eat his cereal and Brad Pitt, oh yeah!
Pitt is almost invisible in this movie, lowest-key performance of the year.
Still, if you aren’t yet angry enough at America, this film will help.
Taylor gives it 4 fiat currencies out of 5.
Howe gives it 4 sale signs out of 5.
