The Big Short

GENERAL INFORMATION
Release Info: 23 December 2015
I watched this on 30 January 2016
Running Time: 2 Hours and 10 Minutes
Staring:  Christian Bale, Steve Carrell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt
Rating? R
SPOILERS? YES, 
but it won't matter. You should see this!

REVIEWS
IMDB: 7.9 of 10
MY RATING: 9

STORYLINE

Four denizens in the world of high finance predict the credit and housing bubble collapse of the mid-2000s, and decide to take on the big banks for their greed and lack of foresight.

MY REVIEW:

This is an amazing movie. There is nothing small about this BIG Movie at all! I really knew very little about the subprime mortgage crisis that pretty much drowned the banking industry in 2007-2008, but this helped me understand the whole thing in a most entertaining method! 

This story is told in some very unique ways that not only keep you interested but allow you to be entertained! The idea of breaking the fourth wall by allowing models in bathtubs and celebrity chefs accompanied by singers to deliver additional little pieces of data to assist in your understanding of the heftier buts was brilliant! Its filled with cuts, slow-motion, monologues, flashbacks, foreshadowing and just amazing cinematography!

The acting is stellar from the stars to the bit players. They aren't just playing a role, they embody characters during a remarkable time in history. Steve Carrell plays against character and he's perfect! His character, Mark Baum, is much like the boss from that television series. However, in "The Big Short", he plays it straight. He is a boss of a fund under the umbrella of Morgan Stanley (but it's not Morgan Stanley, and his team likes to point out), and he is on a mission to bring down banks, to show them up, and to prove he's been right about the financial warning signs. He is betting against the hand that feeds him, Morgan Stanley.

I preferred Christian Bale's performance as Michael Burry, an unselfconscious, manic math genius. I haven't seen that frightening look in Bale's eyes since "American Psycho", but this time he's only killing the mortgage backed securities market. Meanwhile, Brad Pitt, under- playing another disaffected former banker, Brad Rickert, helps two friends make millions while they bet against terrible investments, or "play short" the mortgage market. His backstory is revealed steadily and in a way that makes us wonder why he briefly got back into the investment "game." Even Ryan Gosling makes his mark in this star-studded cast playing the prescient "Jared Vennett." Remember, all the characters in the film are based on real people. And that is what makes it so remarkable.

The other major players in the film are Bear Stearns, Morgan Stanley, and a slew of investment houses who at best ignore the coming financial crisis or at worst, colluded in its creation. From the realtors selling the mortgages, to the banks loaning at subprime, to the banks bundling the worthless packages, they were all making too much money to want to stop. This is exactly the kind of over-exuberance that occurred in the 1920s stock market crash, but few payed attention then or in 2007.

"The Big Short" is a dramatized film of true events. And to make sure we understand, the actors break the fourth wall several times to tell us what part is true to the detail and what part is fictionalized to make it more dramatic. But if you are still incredulous, read the book. The events are all sadly true, and we are still paying for it.

On a personal note: I made a pretty awesome Happy Holidays card from the kids this year!!