The Big Short
Michael Burry (Christian Bale: Exodus: Gods and Kings) is always on the lookout for a new investment.
Investigating the housing loan market, Burry discovers that its bottom is about to fall out. Predicting a collapse, he uses his fund’s money to short the housing values. In essence, he bets against the lending system that has been the bedrock of American banking.
Burry’s theory gets the attention of investor Mark Baum (Steve Carell: Freeheld). Anticipating the coming global storm, Baum must decide whether to join Burry in profiteering or sound the alarm.
Glib, informative and fast-paced, The Big Short won’t put you to sleep. Director Adam McKay (Anchorman 2) achieves quite a feat in making an exciting movie about stocks, loans and mortgages — without high-speed chases, guns or a cool heist subplot. McKay goes to great pains to explain even the most confusing financial concepts entertainingly. Want to know about sub-prime mortgages? Margot Robbie (Focus) explains them while sipping Champagne in a bubble bath. Interested in how banks create AAA-rated mortgages using small mortgages that are rated B or below? Chef Anthony Bourdain talks you through it while whipping up a fish stew.
These quirky bits of humor are McKay’s strong suit, tricking you into caring about the financial market and simplifying long boring concepts.
Less sound is the film’s emotional beat. Each character gets a single distinguishing trait but very little in the way of development. Bale is the oddball genius. Carell is a loudmouth with a heart of gold. Brad Pitt is into organic foods. Characters exist only to move the storyline, so it’s hard to care about Carell’s home life or the tragedy that haunts him.
McKay’s visual style is frenetic. Whenever the pace lags, he bombards us with footage of news events, publicity photos — anything and everything he can think of — to keep our focus while explaining mortgages. After the eighth montage, the style gets annoying.
The movie is a good investment if you’re in the market for an entertaining look at banking and how it almost ruined our country.