Film 26: The Big Short (2015)

Directed By: Adam McKay

Written By: Charles Randolph, Adam McKay

Starring: Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling

Here my goal to see every Best Picture nominee continued. I imagine some people were surprised that the Director of Anchorman and The Other Guys had a created a film worthy of a Best Picture nomination. I know I was.

Well, surprise or not, The Big Short is in excellent movie. The film's re-telling of the United States housing bubble collapse based on Michael Lewis' book is witty, clever, and tries extremely hard to be understood.

The movie pushes very hard to make sure it's as clear as possible in its agenda; McKay understands that the subject matter is boring to most people, and at every possible moment livens the whole experience up, throwing in 4th-wall breaks to simplify and explain situations, and editing associative visuals in order to make sure the film is as accessible as possible. The film looks and sounds like a documentary, even down to its cinematography, which plays with a lot of handheld camera work in order to affect that documentary look. The tone of the film is comedic, an exasperated scoff at people's behaviour. McKay recognises everything that happened, but shows that he does not quite believe it because of how ridiculous it is. 

The surreal yet natural tone of the movie is improved by the excellent performances, especially from Bale and Carell, whose people the movie takes the time to give full backstory to and develop, which enhances their performances further. The rest of the cast is strong here, behaving as their characters or as the voice of the filmmakers as needed. 

The film on the whole has a little difficulty hitting the darker moments of the movie with real weight because of the film's overall comedic tone, but it's a small trade-off in the order to make the less exciting subject matter much more widely interesting and accessible.

The Verdict: Adam McKay's venture to tell the story of the economic collapse of the 2000s is smartly edited, excellently acted, and all things considered, effectively told. There's an agenda here, as McKay tries desperately to get people to understand exactly what happened, but even as the film breaks the 4th wall and begins to condescend to its audience, it's never insulting because it's all in the earnest effort to help people understand. I recommend people watch it, because the film infuriates and educates people on an important subject in recent history.

Rating: 8/10

Published July 15th, 2016