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Not since 2011's Margin Call have I been so utterly engaged in a film that had me feeling so utterly stupid. Both films deal with the collapse of a money making machine and throw out a lot of jargon that left me scratching my head. The Big Short tries to dumb it down, to the point where we have Margot Robbie, playing herself, naked in a tub full of bubbles to explain certain aspects of the dealings...later on it's Selena Gomez at a poker table. Even with these much needed sequences, I'm still left confused and saddened at how much I simply do not understand. With that being said, I was "invested" in this film straight from the beginning.
Michael Burry, an eccentric man with Asperger syndrome believes that the housing market is built on a bubble that will burst in a few years. He bets against the banks in the hopes to collect billions. Word gets out and a few others see the same trend, hoping the kick the bank in the teeth when this outcome happens. The banks and everyone else for that matter, don't believe them. They think the market is infallible, so they have no problem taking their millions of dollars. As history has proven, the banks were wrong, those men were right. But who wins in this outcome?
I was surprised to see The Big Short walk away with the PGA, so I decided to pay attention to it. Going in with only the knowledge that the housing market did indeed crash and burn, I was hoping to possibly have some insight into the behind the scene dealings of everything. The film gives that to us, but my insight increased marginally. The film is fast and the dialogue is faster. Each scene has characters talking about this thing or that thing and I'm hanging on to the overall picture without understanding the pieces. This isn't the fault of the film really, since they do literally stop the story every so often to explain it to the audience. Those scenes and many more, break the fourth wall and talk directly to the viewer. Gosling's character, who is basically Jordan Belfort from Wolf of Wall Street, is the one who does most of the talking to us. Stopping mid sentence to explain one or two key bits before going back to the narrative. Gosling, tanned and all, has the most fun in an otherwise depressing film. His character is eccentric enough to be believable and questionable.
The cast is strong, with key performances from Bale and Carell. Each story, three in total, are separate from each other. None of the character really interact with each other. Bale is sequestered to his office for most of the film. Brad Pitt reluctantly helps two small time players in a big pond and Carell joins forces, of sorts, with the eccentric Gosling. Each story is about David (them) versus Goliath (the banks). They are going up against America and hoping to win. What we know from our history though, is that fraud and corruption won't allow that. So by the time the film finished, I was under the impression these people were millionaires, which I'm guessing they are, but no one seems to be happy. Everyone ends up being miserable. Unhappy that millions of Americans lose their homes and jobs? Maybe, but only Carell seems interested in that. His character is always trying to right the wrongs of the world due to a personal tragedy. That's the most backstory we get on any of the characters, save for one glass eye from Bale.
The Big Short is a well put together film with some erratic editing and key performances. In a year full of tough subject matter, The Big Short most likely won't be remembered years later, but for right now, it's pretty good.
The Big Short
(Adam McKay)
"Tell me the difference between stupid and illegal and I'll have my wife's brother arrested."
(Adam McKay)
"Tell me the difference between stupid and illegal and I'll have my wife's brother arrested."
Not since 2011's Margin Call have I been so utterly engaged in a film that had me feeling so utterly stupid. Both films deal with the collapse of a money making machine and throw out a lot of jargon that left me scratching my head. The Big Short tries to dumb it down, to the point where we have Margot Robbie, playing herself, naked in a tub full of bubbles to explain certain aspects of the dealings...later on it's Selena Gomez at a poker table. Even with these much needed sequences, I'm still left confused and saddened at how much I simply do not understand. With that being said, I was "invested" in this film straight from the beginning.
Michael Burry, an eccentric man with Asperger syndrome believes that the housing market is built on a bubble that will burst in a few years. He bets against the banks in the hopes to collect billions. Word gets out and a few others see the same trend, hoping the kick the bank in the teeth when this outcome happens. The banks and everyone else for that matter, don't believe them. They think the market is infallible, so they have no problem taking their millions of dollars. As history has proven, the banks were wrong, those men were right. But who wins in this outcome?
I was surprised to see The Big Short walk away with the PGA, so I decided to pay attention to it. Going in with only the knowledge that the housing market did indeed crash and burn, I was hoping to possibly have some insight into the behind the scene dealings of everything. The film gives that to us, but my insight increased marginally. The film is fast and the dialogue is faster. Each scene has characters talking about this thing or that thing and I'm hanging on to the overall picture without understanding the pieces. This isn't the fault of the film really, since they do literally stop the story every so often to explain it to the audience. Those scenes and many more, break the fourth wall and talk directly to the viewer. Gosling's character, who is basically Jordan Belfort from Wolf of Wall Street, is the one who does most of the talking to us. Stopping mid sentence to explain one or two key bits before going back to the narrative. Gosling, tanned and all, has the most fun in an otherwise depressing film. His character is eccentric enough to be believable and questionable.
The cast is strong, with key performances from Bale and Carell. Each story, three in total, are separate from each other. None of the character really interact with each other. Bale is sequestered to his office for most of the film. Brad Pitt reluctantly helps two small time players in a big pond and Carell joins forces, of sorts, with the eccentric Gosling. Each story is about David (them) versus Goliath (the banks). They are going up against America and hoping to win. What we know from our history though, is that fraud and corruption won't allow that. So by the time the film finished, I was under the impression these people were millionaires, which I'm guessing they are, but no one seems to be happy. Everyone ends up being miserable. Unhappy that millions of Americans lose their homes and jobs? Maybe, but only Carell seems interested in that. His character is always trying to right the wrongs of the world due to a personal tragedy. That's the most backstory we get on any of the characters, save for one glass eye from Bale.
The Big Short is a well put together film with some erratic editing and key performances. In a year full of tough subject matter, The Big Short most likely won't be remembered years later, but for right now, it's pretty good.