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The Big Short Movie Review
User Rating: 5 / 5
- Details
- Category: Reviews
- Published: Friday, 11 December 2015 14:54
- Written by Lupe Rodriguez Haas
THE BIG SHORT isn’t short on star power (Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, Steve Carell) with great performances all around, but the Wall Street talk is too big to get your head around. Although director and co-writer Adam McKay attempt to give you a cliff notes version of the terms and how the system works using celebrity cameos (Margot Robbie, Selena Gomez), you’d still need multiple viewings to understand it. Besides that, the characters themselves are not innocent of any wrong doing.
THE BIG SHORT is based on the true story and best-selling book by Michael Lewis (The Blind Side, Moneyball) surrounding the credit and housing bubble collapse of the mid-2000s. Christian Bale, Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling play traders who make money for investors. Brad Pitt is a retired trader who got out of the business because of his disillusionment with the corrupt system, but he’s dragged back into it by two young investors (Finn Wittrock, John Magaro) eager to score a huge investment. In their quest to accumulate wealth for themselves and their clients, the foir different parties foresee the collapse of the economy when they begin to investigate the big banks and the government's lack of oversight of the greedy banking business. Watch Trailer
Going into THE BIG SHORT, I had some knowledge of why the economy collapsed from the media reporting it, and going through purchasing a home myself at that time. THE BIG SHORT, however, spends too much time explaining the dark underbelly of modern banking. The audience going to see this film will most likely already have some knowledge without getting into great detail using banking lingo.
The biggest issue with the film is that these characters are looking to profit from the abuses of the banking system. They aren’t trying to save it. The two young investors take the story to a news organization, but they are turned away. They decided to profit from it as well since no one is paying attention. Aside from that, Bale, Carell, and Gosling are looking to short the system too, and make millions by betting against the system. When the banking systems collapse, these men walked away rich. It weighs heavy on Steve Carell’s character, but he comes out of it unscathed financially while many Americans suffered. While you’re rooting for this likable characters, deep down they are part of the problem.
THE BIG SHORT, however, is worth watching for the excellent ensemble, and if you’re looking to get riled up about the corruption of capitalism, this film is for you.