Review 371: The Big Short

The Big Short is a riotously funny, throughroly engaging and fascinating biographical comedy drama film and a showcase for some of Adam McKay's most irreverant writing and the talents of his four leads.

Based on the non-fiction book, The Big Short by Michael Lewis, the film follows three separate but concurrent storylines that are loosely connected by their actions in the years leading up to the Financial crisis of 2007-2008: Eccentric hedge fund manager Michael Burry (Christian Bale) realises that a number of subprime house loans are in danger of defaulting. Burry bets against the housing market by throwing more than $1 billion of his investors money into credit default swaps.
His actions attract the attention of banker Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling) and hot-headed hedge fund manager Mark Baum (Steve Carell) and other greedy opportunists.
Together these men make a fortune by taking full advantage of the impending economic collapse in America.

The plot is   McKay takes a extremely complicated and multilayered subject matter and makes it uniquely entertaining. He does the impossible and turns real frustration into a highly  film. The way that his screenplay manges to   through the use of some celebrity cameos that are best left unspoiled. The screenplay never panders

Writer/director Adam McKay's direction is unobtrusive, the cinematography is  the score by Nicholas Britell is terrically catchy, the costumes are 

Christian Bale, Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling and Steve Carell are brilliant in this film. 

Michael Burry is someone who just never stops, he accomplishes so much every day He was one the first people to discover the American housing market bubble. His mannerisms perfectly

 

Steve Carell continues to showcase his talents for serious

 

Karen Gillan, Finn Wittrock, Max Greenfield, Billy Magnussen, Jeremy Strong, Adepero Oduye, Melissa Leo & Marisa Tomei round out the cast with fantastic performances.

5/5

The Anonymous Critic.